21. Five sentences are given below, labeled A, B, C, D and E. They need to be arranged in a logical order to form a coherent paragraph/passage. From the given options, choose the most appropriate option.
A. This may mean breaking up old relationships to create more positive and productive ones.
B. Relationships can be developed from and determined by politics.
C. Any assessment performed to change an organization's environment should include possible political ramifications of transformation.
D. Individual and organizational performance can be affected by myriad political influences, which can come from both internal and external sources.
E. Changing an organization's environment should coincide with changing problematic political practices.
(a) EABDC (b) DBEAC (c) BADCE (d) BEACD
22. Five sentences are given below, labeled A, B, C, D and E. They need to be arranged in a logical order to form a coherent paragraph/passage. From the given options, choose the most appropriate option.
A. Earth has experienced climate change in the past without help from humanity.
B. The chemical make-up of the ice provides clues to the average global temperature.
C. For example, bubbles of air in glacial ice trap tiny samples of Earth's atmosphere, giving scientists a history of greenhouse gases that stretches back more than 800,000 years.
D. Using this ancient evidence, scientists have built a record of Earth's past climates, or "paleoclimates."
E. We know about past climates because of evidence left in tree rings, layers of ice in glaciers, ocean sediments, coral reefs, and layers of sedimentary rocks.
(a) ACDEB (b) EACBD (c) BDCEA (d) AECBD
23. Five sentences are given below, labeled A, B, C, D and E. They need to be arranged in a logical order to form a coherent paragraph/passage. From the given options, choose the most appropriate option.
A. Thus, employee and manager alike may resist attempts to uproot established company traditions or fiddle with untried, risky procedures.
B. The truth is if you want to learn to do it better, you've got to try a lot of things, many of which won't work.
C. Their responses to creativity initiatives may in fact take shape vigorously, adamantly and fearfully.
D. With society officially downgrading the idea of creativity so strongly, it becomes problematic for businesses to get their managers and other employees thinking truly freely and "out of the box".
E. Also, genuine creativity, by definition, subverts the status quo by facing down long-held assumptions and uncorking new ways of approaching things.
(a) DEBAC (b) DEACB (c) DBEAC (d) ACBED
24. The word given below has been used in sentences in four different ways. Choose the option corresponding to the sentence in which the usage of the word is incorrect or inappropriate.
GET
(a) The talk show fell flat- the anchor did not get his jokes across to his audience.
(b) I don't know how the news of his resigning got around.
(c) She is always getting at her husband because he doesn't clean the yard.
(d) With that innocent face, he could get off with murder.
25. The word given below has been used in sentences in four different ways. Choose the option corresponding to the sentence in which the usage of the word is incorrect or inappropriate.
HANG
(a) The detective spent several months hanging around the club making friends with the suspects.
(b) He is a loner and hangs back from group activities.
(c) Some of the students hung back after the lecture to have a word with the teacher.
(d) She hung on to the shares hoping to make a huge profit.
26. There are two gaps in the sentence/paragraph given below. From the pairs of words given, choose the one that fills the gaps most appropriately.
Herodotus celebrates the glory of human ___________ with a vigor that ________ parochial Plutarch.
(a) diversity, infuriates
(b) bigotry, incenses
(c) creativity, flails
(d) ingenuity, flays
27. There are two gaps in the sentence/paragraph given below. From the pairs of words given, choose the one that fills the gaps most appropriately.
A Beethoven quartet does not represent sorrow, but ________ it in hearer and player alike;and yet it is emphatically not a ______ experience. Like tragedy it brings intense pleasure and insight.
(a) incites, tragic
(b) elicits, sad
(c) invokes, pleasurable
(d) imbues, memorable
28. Given below are four sentences. Each sentence has a pair of words that are italicized. From the
italicized words, select the most appropriate words (A or B) to form correct sentences. The sentences are followed by options that indicate the words, which may be selected to correctly complete the set of sentences. From the options given, choose the most appropriate one.
The doctor advised that a glass of brandy at night may affect (A)/effect (B) his recovery.
He was actuated (A)/activated (B) by ambition.
My father is not averse (A)/adverse (B) to the idea of my studying abroad.
The witness was asked to indite (A)/indict (B) the reasons for his support of the plaintiff.
(a) ABAB (b) BBBA (c) BAAA (d) AAAB
29. Given below are four sentences. Each sentence has a pair of words that are italicized. From the italicized words, select the most appropriate words (A or B) to form correct sentences. The sentences are followed by options that indicate the words, which may be selected to correctly complete the set of sentences. From the options given, choose the most appropriate one.
The statement is usually ascribed (A)/ prescribed (B) to Winston Churchill. All aspirants (A)/ aspirators (B) to the title had to report by 9 a.m.
The novelist amended (A)/emended (B) the manuscript before sending it to his publisher. The carpet will complement (A)/ compliment (B) my furniture.
(a) ABAB (b) AAAA (c) AABB (d) AABA
30. A paragraph is given below from which the last sentence has been deleted. From the given options, choose the one that completes the paragraph in the most appropriate way.
The quality of theatrically released films has been dropping so precipitously in recent years that the Academy Awards are no longer a fair gauge of audiovisual entertainment. Several decades ago audiences could expect a film such as The Social Network every week; now we are lucky to have one or two a year. Add to this the fact that serious dramas have more or less migrated to television, and it's clear that the Oscars have become progressively less relevant.
(a) All long-form audiovisual entertainment, released on any distribution platform, should be eligible for consideration, which of course would be a logistical nightmare for The Academy.
(b) Grown-up films and creative projects are "over" in the new era, and many are turning to long-form television.
(c) Last year arguably the best male performance of the year (Al Pacino in You Don't Know Jack) was not eligible for the Oscars because it was 'Made for TV'.
(d) Besides, 'Made for TV' movies would not in any way downgrade the specialness of 'theatrical' movies, if anything they would come as a wakeup call for all the movie studios.
31. Given below are four sentences or parts of sentences that form a paragraph. Identify the sentence(s) or part(s) of sentence(s) that is/are incorrect in terms of grammar and usage. Then, choose the most appropriate option.
1. Thanks to the coalition, we now have PCTs and hospitals that are confused, low in morale and have no clear idea of their future.
2. What may seem good political win for anti-Tory forces at Westminster feels like mayhem on the ground.
3. No responsible politician can afford to feel happy about "the pause"
and the giant question mark hanging around the structural future of the NHS.
4. Labour has to have their own plan, which advances their own thinking post-government.
Directions for questions 32 to 34: The passage given below is followed by a set of three questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question.
Marx maintains that the ruling ideology is always the ideology of the ruling class and that the set of ideas and thought patterns existing in any epoch will – "in the final instance" – closely follow the material and
social relations of production. As soon as the surplus product emerges and class develops which has control over that surplus, then that class will require that those who do the producing learn to accept the "rules" of production and distribution.
Thus, in feudal society, for example, we will have feudal ideologies that emphasise hierarchy, God-given positions in society, stability and the divine right of kings to rule and a religious form that bolsters those
requirements
The order that prevails will always be seen for extended periods of time as the "natural law" in which the way things are is the way they should be. In bourgeois society the rules change. Stasis and hierarchy are
overthrown in the name of dynamism and innovation and a breaking down of restrictive practices and you become a "self-made man" off to seek your fortune.
Where once the divine right of kings was seen as the natural law, it now becomes unnatural because it is surplus to requirements and is superceded by the human right to remove the head of the king if necessary.
So, the rules may change, but they still have to be learned. However, this learning of the rules is not done merely by repression but by the gradual inculcation of values.
Althusser, for example, describes these two functions as repressive and ideological state apparatuses.
The former is clear, but the latter is far more insidious. It is the way in which the prevailing rules of the game become second nature to you and your obligations are turned into your desires.
Perhaps an unusual way of understanding this is through Kafka's Metamorphosis, perhaps the most famous account ever written of a man who has turned into a beetle overnight. But the real strangeness of
the story is not the fact of the physical transformation but of what it represents. At one point Gregor Samsa says of his family and his work life:
"The fruits of his labour were transformed into the provision of money ... and he earned enough to meet the expenses of the entire family and actually did so. They had just become used to it, the family as well as
Gregor, the money was received with thanks and given with pleasure, but that special warmth was missing."
If this isn't Kafka's spin on Marx's line from the Communist Manifesto that "The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and has reduced the family relation into a mere money relation" then I
don't know what is. Gregor's metamorphosis into a bug is the outward and inward transformation of the need to earn money into his own picture of himself. This is alienation theory in a beetleshell. It is not that
he was poor and therefore suffering and needed to be kept down by a police state, but that the necessity of having to work for others at a job he hates for an amorphous output which doesn't belong to him alienates
him from himself and from his labour power.
32. The author's tone can be best described as
(a) Analytical (b) Descriptive (c) Critical (d) Unbiased
33. As per the content of the passage, which of the following statements is the author most likely to agree with?
(a) The character (Gregor) has some idea of what is being done to him.
(b) The character (Gregor) gets alienated from himself and has no idea of what is being done to him.
(c) Alienation has brought a drastic change in the mindset of the character.
(d) Alienation is the normal psychological response of the character under the given conditions.
34. The author is most likely to agree with which of the following?
(a) We get to learn a lot of new things with time and this leads to our growth as a human being.
(b) The ideas we have about society are not actually our own but are put there by a set of institutions that have convinced us there is no other way to think about the world.
(c) We are not forced by anyone and gradually become more disciplined.
(d) Society plays a pivotal role in imparting good values.
Directions for questions 35 to 37: The passage given below is followed by a set of three questions.
Choose the most appropriate answer to each question. If you read only one book about the causes of the recent financial crisis, let it be Michael Lewis', "The Big Short".
That's not because Lewis has put together the most comprehensive or authoritative analysis of all the misdeeds and misjudgements and missed signals that led to the biggest credit bubble the world has known. What makes his account so accessible is that he tells it through the eyes of the managers of three small hedge funds and a Deutsche Bank bond salesman, none of whom you've ever heard of. All, however, were among the first to see the folly and fraud behind the subprime fiasco, and to find ways to bet against it when everyone else thought them crazy.
Nor would anyone — including Lewis, I'm sure — claim this is an even-handed history that reflects the differing views of investment bankers, rating-agency analysts and industry analysts, all of whom he holds up to ridicule for their arrogance, their cynicism and their relentless incompetence.
What's so delightful about Lewis's writing is how deftly he explains and demystifies how things really work on Wall Street, even while creating a compelling narrative and introducing us to a cast of fascinating, alltoo- human characters. From their tales, we learn that Wall Street banks think nothing of stealing the trading strategies of their clients and peddling them to other customers.
We learn that the investment bankers knew as early as 2006 about the rising default rate on subprime mortgages but engaged in elaborate ruses to hide that reality from ratings agencies and investors. We learn that when investor demand for subprime mortgages outstripped the supply, Wall Street filled the gap by creating "synthetic" mortgage-backed securities whose performance would mirror that of the real thing.
For me, the most memorable chapter in Lewis's tale involves Michael Burry's struggle to keep his fund alive in 2007 and early 2008 as long-time investors lost faith in his strategy to "short" the housing market and began demanding their money back. Although home prices had begun to fall and mortgage defaults were rising quickly, Wall Street's securitization machine had managed to prop up the price of mortgage securities while forcing down the value of the bets Burry had placed against them. And even after the market crashed and Burry's strategy was vindicated with a $720 million profit, not a single investor called to say thanks.
There is nothing subtle about the dark portrait Lewis creates of the financial community. Through his lens, all bond salesmen are out to cheat their customers, all top executives are clueless and all ratings analysts are second-raters who could not get jobs in investment banks.
Even discounting for its generalizations and exaggeration and limited frame of reference, however, "The Big Short" manages to give us the truest picture yet of what went wrong on Wall Street — and why. At times, it reads like a morality play, at other times like a modern-day farce. But as with any good play, its value lies in the way it reveals character and motive and explores the cultural context in which the plot unfolds.
35. What is the primary concern of the author of this passage?
(a) To highlight the merits and demerits of the book "The Big Short".
(b) To make the reader understand the subprime fiasco through the medium of the book.
(c) To present a comprehensive analysis of the book.
(d) To highlight the role of the financial community in the genesis of the subprime crisis.
36. Why does the author feel that "The Big Short" is a book that a reader can connect with?
(a) It is a comprehensive and authoritative analysis of the recent economic crisis.
(b) It is a skillful analysis of the financial intricacies and the workings of the Wall Street.
(c) The book brings together a comprehensive perspective of bankers and analysts.
(d) The story is told through the accounts of characters that were able to see the crisis much before others.
37. According to the passage, which of the following is the main cause of the current economic crisis?
(a) Investment bankers knew about the rising default rate on subprime mortgages yet they overlooked it and even hid this from ratings agencies and investors.
(b) The financial community is weak with clueless executives, bond salesmen who want to cheat their customers, and incompetent ratings analysts.
(c) The overly aggressive lending practices of banks helped put millions of dollars into the home
mortgage business. When the real estate business collapsed, it snowballed and led to the economic crisis.
(d) None of the above
(a) 1 and 3 (b) 2, 3 and 4 (c) 2 and 4 (d) Only 4
Directions for questions 38 to 40: The passage given below is followed by a set of three questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question.
Since Biafra, humanitarianism has become the idea, and the practice, that dominates Western response to other people's wars and natural disasters; of late, it has even become a dominant justification for Western war-making. It is remembered as it was lived, as a cause célèbre—John Lennon and Jean-Paul Sartre both raised their fists for the Biafrans—and the food the West sent certainly did save lives. Yet a moral assessment of the Biafra operation is far from clear-cut.
After the secessionist government was finally forced to surrender and rejoin Nigeria, in 1970, the predicted genocidal massacres never materialized. Had it not been for the West's charity, the Nigerian civil war surely would have ended much sooner. Against the lives that the airlifted aid saved must be weighed all those lives—tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands—that were lost to the extra year and a half of destruction. But the newborn humanitarian international hardly stopped to reflect on this fact. New crises beckoned. The crisis caravan rolled on. Its mood was triumphalist, and to a large degree it remains so.
Michael Maren stumbled into the aid industry in the nineteen-seventies by way of the Peace Corps. "In the post-Vietnam world, the Peace Corps offered us an opportunity to forge a different kind of relationship with the Third World, one based on respect," he writes. But he soon began to wonder how respectful it is to send Western kids to tell the elders of ancient agrarian cultures how to feed themselves better. As hewatched professional humanitarians chasing contracts to implement policies whose harm they plainly saw, he came to regard his colleagues as a new breed of mercenaries: soldiers of misfortune. Yet, David Rieff notes, "for better or worse, by the late 1980s humanitarianism had become the last coherent saving ideal."
How is it that humanitarians so readily deflect accountability for the negative consequences of their actions? "Humanitarianism flourishes as an ethical response to emergencies not just because bad things happen in the world, but also because many people have lost faith in both economic development and political struggle as ways of trying to improve the human lot," the social scientist Craig Calhoun observes. "Humanitarianism appeals to many who seek morally pure and immediately good ways of responding to suffering in the world." Or, as the Harvard law professor David Kennedy writes in "The Dark Sides of Virtue" (2004), "Humanitarianism tempts us to hubris, to an idolatry about our intentions and routines, to the conviction that we know more than we do about what justice can be."
Maren, who came to regard humanitarianism as every bit as damaging to its subjects as colonialism, and vastly more dishonest, takes a dimmer view: that we do not really care about those to whom we send aid, that our focus is our own virtue. He quotes these lines of the Somali poet Ali Dhux: "A man tries hard to help you find your lost camels. He works more tirelessly than even you, but in truth he does not want you to find them, ever."
38. From the passage, what can't be inferred about Biafra?
(a) It is a justification for the West to wage war.
(b) The food sent by the West to Biafra helped save lives.
(c) The West's charity only prolonged the civil war in Nigeria.
(d) A moral assessment of the Biafra operation is ambiguous.
39. Michael Maren call his colleagues "Soldiers of misfortune" because
(a) their philanthropic acts are rescue attempts directed at their own morality.
(b) they are only concerned with allegiances formed with the third world.
(c) they fight against human misery despite the harm involved in the process.
(d) they primarily work for their self benefit.
40. Why does Maren quote the lines of Somali poet Ali Dhux?
(a) To draw an analogy between the humanitarians and the man who provides help in finding lost
camels.
(b) To highlight the hidden motive behind humanitarianism.
(c) To show humanitarians in poor light by comparing them with someone who does philanthropy
with an ulterior motive.
(d) To show that humanitarians are not concerned with the acts of their kindness.
21.Ans (b) The sequence should start with a general statement –
sentence D presents a situation, a general viewpoint.
E will not be a good start point, because sentence D
introduces the viewpoint that there can be political
influences on an organisation. This is also the problem
with B as a starting sentence. In fact, B goes on to
reiterate the point made in D. DB is a link. EA is also a
link as A elaborates on the point made in E. C ends the
sequence by stating the required understanding of
the situation under discussion. The answer is (b).
22.Ans (d) A is the starting sentence because it introduces a
general idea. E goes on to elaborate on this idea, making
AE the starting link. Another way to solve this question
is to look for the ending sentence. D is the best way to
end the paragraph as it uses the demonstrative and
points to the evidence that has been presented.
Sentence B discusses the clues that are presented in
the chemical make up of ice and so D fits in after this
sentence. All the other sentences also point to
evidence of climate change and so D should not only
come after B but should also end the entire sequence.
The answer is (d).
23.Ans (b) The paragraph is about the resistance to genuine
creativity. The starting point should be D as it introduces
the argument. E and A are linked. E also follows D
because it presents an additional problem of
downgrading creativity. B ends the sequence as it
sums up the argument of the author. The answer is
(b).
24.Ans (d) (a) Get across means to communicate or transmit a
message/joke etc.
(b)Get around means to circulate or spread.
(c) Getting at somebody means to criticize or
persistently nag.
(d) is wrong - the expression is get away— not get
off.
25.Ans (c) (a) Hanging around means wait around idly.
(b) Hesitate to do something because of fear etc.It
means to hold back.
(c) is wrong. Hung back after the lecture is not
idiomatically correct english, though it is used as a
slang. The correct expression is "hung behind" which
means to stop or remain behind.
(d) Hang on to something means(here) not to give or
sell.
26.Ans (a) Parochial means narrow-minded and having only a
limited perspective. Diversity represents an idea which
is opposite to a parochial perspective. Therefore,
someone who celebrates "diversity" would infuriate a
parochial person.
27.Ans (b) Elicit means to draw forth or bring out. It fits the first
blank well. The beethoven quartet is compared with a
tragedy and like a tragedy it brings pleasure. Therefore
it cannot be sad.
28.Ans (c) Effect and affect are often confused because of their
similar spelling and pronunciation. The
verb affect usually has to do with pretense
<she affected a cheery disposition despite feeling
down.> The more common affect denotes having an
effect or influence <the weather affected everyone's
mood.> The verb effect goes beyond mere influence;
it refers to actual achievement of a final result <the
new administration hopes to effect a peace
settlement.> The uncommon noun affect, which has a
meaning relating to psychology, is also sometimes
mistakenly used for the very common effect. In
ordinary use, the noun you will want is effect <waiting
for the new law to take effect> <the weather had
an effect on everyone's mood.> Activated means to
make a thing active (make it start working). Actuate
means to motivate. Here the word to be used is
actuate. Averse means to be unwilling and reluctant.
Adverse means opposed. Here the word to be used
is averse. Indite means to make up, compose and put
down in writing. Indict means to charge with a fault or
offence: Criticise, Accuse.
29.Ans (d) Ascribed means attributed to. Prescribe means to tell
what is to be done/ or what medicine to take. Aspirant
is a person who has a strong desire to achieve a
position of power or to win a competition; an aspirator
is a medical term. It is a device used for sucking out
liquid from a person's body. Emend means to correct
usually by textual alterations. Amend means to change
or modify for the better. Complement means
to complete or enhance by providing something
additional. Compliment means to express esteem,
respect, affection, or admiration to someone.
30.Ans (c) (a) doesn't continue in the same vein as the paragraph,
it is not able to provide a link between the lack of
relevance of the Oscars and the consideration of all
forms of audio-visual entertainment for the Oscars.
(b) assumes that the Oscars are losing relevance
because of the decline in grown-up films and creative
projects. It fails to acknowledge other possible
reasons. (d) talks about 'Made for TV' movies, which
haven't been discussed till now; also it fails to provide
the link between the Oscars and the 'Made for TV'
movies. (c) elaborates why the Oscars are becoming
irrelevant by bringing in the example of a performance
in a 'Made for TV' movie that should have been
considered for the Oscars but was not considered.
Hence, it is the correct option.
31.Ans (b) The sentence 1 is correct. As 'win' is a countable
noun, the correction in 2 is 'a good political win'. 'Hang
around' which means to spend a lot of time with
someone is incorrectly used in 3. The correction should
be 'hanging over'. If a threat or doubt hangs over a
place or a situation, it exists (for example:Uncertainty
again hangs over the project). There is a subject-verb
agreement error in 4. It should be 'Labour has to have
its own plan which advances its own thinking postgovernment'.
32.Ans (a) The author analyses the theory of Karl Marx about
ideologies and alienation. He uses Kafka's
Metamorphosis as a tool to analyse Karl Marx's theory.
Therefore, his tone is analytical.
33. Ans (b) In bourgeois society the rules change and the learning
of the rules is not done merely by repression but by
the gradual inculcation of values. Althusser, for
example, describes these two functions as repressive
and ideological state apparatuses. The former is
clear, but the latter is far more insidious. It is the way
in which the prevailing rules of the game become
second nature to you and your obligations are turned
into your desires. So, you pull your socks and get into
the process of earning money for your family. Perhaps
an unusual way of understanding this is through
metamorphosis. Gregor's metamorphosis into a bug is
the outward and inward transformation of the need to
earn money into his own picture of himself. This is
alienation theory in a beetle shell. Gregor gets alienated
from himself but he is not aware of this. (a) is incorrect
as it says that the man has some idea of what the
bourgeois society is doing to him. (He has idea about
what he is doing for his family but no idea of what the
bourgeois society is making him do.) Alienation is not
the cause but one of the effects of the drastic change
that the bourgeois society has brought about on the
man's mind. So (c) is incorrect. Author does not talk or
imply about whether this alienation is a normal or
abnormal response. Hence, (b) is the correct option.
34.Ans (b) The ruling class make us learn its rules by repression
as well as by gradually making its rules a part of our
nature and turning our obligations into our desires. So
the ideas that we have in our mind are insinuated by
the society(they are not ours). So the author is most
likely to agree with (b).
35.Ans (c) (a) is negated as highlighting only the merits and
demerits is not the primary objective of the author. The
author does not even intend to make the readers
understand the subprime crisis. His purpose is to
comprehensively analyse the book "The Big Short".
Hence, (c) is the correct option.
36.Ans (d) The word accessible in the following lines, "What
makes his account so accessible is that he tells it
through the eyes of the managers of three small hedge
funds…however, were among the first to see the
folly and fraud behind the subprime fiasco", refers to
something capable of being understood or appreciated.
These lines clearly indicate that a reader can connect
with the book as it tells the story through the accounts
of characters that were able to see the crisis much
before others.
37.Ans (d) Although (a) and (b) have been mentioned in the
passage, they are only presented as elements of the
economic crisis. (c) has not been mentioned in the
passage. The main cause of the recent enomic crises
cannot be identified from the passage.
38.Ans (a) Refer to the line, "John Lennon and Jean-Paul
Sartre…the food the West sent certainly did save
lives", which supports (b). Refer to the line, "Had it not
been…the Nigerian civil war surely would have ended
much sooner", which supports (c). Refer to the line,
"Yet a moral assessment of the Biafra operation is far
from clear-cut", which supports (d). However (a)
cannot be inferred by the passage.
39.Ans (d) The author uses the term soldiers of misfortune instead
of the proper expression "soldiers of fortune" for
mercenaries- in his view humanitarian aid workers
are like mercenaries ready to fight/ work for anyone
who pays them-not really inspired by the spirit of
charity/sympathy etc. Hence, the correct answer is
(d).
40.Ans (b) Maren quotes the lines of Somali poet Ali Dhux to reveal
the truth behind humanitarianism. Maren does draw a
parallel between humanitarians and the man who
provides help in finding lost camels in order to highlight
that in both the cases there is some hidden motive
involved Although the work done in both cases seems
philanthropic. The aim of the author is not to show
humanitarians in poor light. Hence (c) is incorrect. (d)
nowhere gets mentioned or suggested in the passage.
A. This may mean breaking up old relationships to create more positive and productive ones.
B. Relationships can be developed from and determined by politics.
C. Any assessment performed to change an organization's environment should include possible political ramifications of transformation.
D. Individual and organizational performance can be affected by myriad political influences, which can come from both internal and external sources.
E. Changing an organization's environment should coincide with changing problematic political practices.
(a) EABDC (b) DBEAC (c) BADCE (d) BEACD
22. Five sentences are given below, labeled A, B, C, D and E. They need to be arranged in a logical order to form a coherent paragraph/passage. From the given options, choose the most appropriate option.
A. Earth has experienced climate change in the past without help from humanity.
B. The chemical make-up of the ice provides clues to the average global temperature.
C. For example, bubbles of air in glacial ice trap tiny samples of Earth's atmosphere, giving scientists a history of greenhouse gases that stretches back more than 800,000 years.
D. Using this ancient evidence, scientists have built a record of Earth's past climates, or "paleoclimates."
E. We know about past climates because of evidence left in tree rings, layers of ice in glaciers, ocean sediments, coral reefs, and layers of sedimentary rocks.
(a) ACDEB (b) EACBD (c) BDCEA (d) AECBD
23. Five sentences are given below, labeled A, B, C, D and E. They need to be arranged in a logical order to form a coherent paragraph/passage. From the given options, choose the most appropriate option.
A. Thus, employee and manager alike may resist attempts to uproot established company traditions or fiddle with untried, risky procedures.
B. The truth is if you want to learn to do it better, you've got to try a lot of things, many of which won't work.
C. Their responses to creativity initiatives may in fact take shape vigorously, adamantly and fearfully.
D. With society officially downgrading the idea of creativity so strongly, it becomes problematic for businesses to get their managers and other employees thinking truly freely and "out of the box".
E. Also, genuine creativity, by definition, subverts the status quo by facing down long-held assumptions and uncorking new ways of approaching things.
(a) DEBAC (b) DEACB (c) DBEAC (d) ACBED
24. The word given below has been used in sentences in four different ways. Choose the option corresponding to the sentence in which the usage of the word is incorrect or inappropriate.
GET
(a) The talk show fell flat- the anchor did not get his jokes across to his audience.
(b) I don't know how the news of his resigning got around.
(c) She is always getting at her husband because he doesn't clean the yard.
(d) With that innocent face, he could get off with murder.
25. The word given below has been used in sentences in four different ways. Choose the option corresponding to the sentence in which the usage of the word is incorrect or inappropriate.
HANG
(a) The detective spent several months hanging around the club making friends with the suspects.
(b) He is a loner and hangs back from group activities.
(c) Some of the students hung back after the lecture to have a word with the teacher.
(d) She hung on to the shares hoping to make a huge profit.
26. There are two gaps in the sentence/paragraph given below. From the pairs of words given, choose the one that fills the gaps most appropriately.
Herodotus celebrates the glory of human ___________ with a vigor that ________ parochial Plutarch.
(a) diversity, infuriates
(b) bigotry, incenses
(c) creativity, flails
(d) ingenuity, flays
27. There are two gaps in the sentence/paragraph given below. From the pairs of words given, choose the one that fills the gaps most appropriately.
A Beethoven quartet does not represent sorrow, but ________ it in hearer and player alike;and yet it is emphatically not a ______ experience. Like tragedy it brings intense pleasure and insight.
(a) incites, tragic
(b) elicits, sad
(c) invokes, pleasurable
(d) imbues, memorable
28. Given below are four sentences. Each sentence has a pair of words that are italicized. From the
italicized words, select the most appropriate words (A or B) to form correct sentences. The sentences are followed by options that indicate the words, which may be selected to correctly complete the set of sentences. From the options given, choose the most appropriate one.
The doctor advised that a glass of brandy at night may affect (A)/effect (B) his recovery.
He was actuated (A)/activated (B) by ambition.
My father is not averse (A)/adverse (B) to the idea of my studying abroad.
The witness was asked to indite (A)/indict (B) the reasons for his support of the plaintiff.
(a) ABAB (b) BBBA (c) BAAA (d) AAAB
29. Given below are four sentences. Each sentence has a pair of words that are italicized. From the italicized words, select the most appropriate words (A or B) to form correct sentences. The sentences are followed by options that indicate the words, which may be selected to correctly complete the set of sentences. From the options given, choose the most appropriate one.
The statement is usually ascribed (A)/ prescribed (B) to Winston Churchill. All aspirants (A)/ aspirators (B) to the title had to report by 9 a.m.
The novelist amended (A)/emended (B) the manuscript before sending it to his publisher. The carpet will complement (A)/ compliment (B) my furniture.
(a) ABAB (b) AAAA (c) AABB (d) AABA
30. A paragraph is given below from which the last sentence has been deleted. From the given options, choose the one that completes the paragraph in the most appropriate way.
The quality of theatrically released films has been dropping so precipitously in recent years that the Academy Awards are no longer a fair gauge of audiovisual entertainment. Several decades ago audiences could expect a film such as The Social Network every week; now we are lucky to have one or two a year. Add to this the fact that serious dramas have more or less migrated to television, and it's clear that the Oscars have become progressively less relevant.
(a) All long-form audiovisual entertainment, released on any distribution platform, should be eligible for consideration, which of course would be a logistical nightmare for The Academy.
(b) Grown-up films and creative projects are "over" in the new era, and many are turning to long-form television.
(c) Last year arguably the best male performance of the year (Al Pacino in You Don't Know Jack) was not eligible for the Oscars because it was 'Made for TV'.
(d) Besides, 'Made for TV' movies would not in any way downgrade the specialness of 'theatrical' movies, if anything they would come as a wakeup call for all the movie studios.
31. Given below are four sentences or parts of sentences that form a paragraph. Identify the sentence(s) or part(s) of sentence(s) that is/are incorrect in terms of grammar and usage. Then, choose the most appropriate option.
1. Thanks to the coalition, we now have PCTs and hospitals that are confused, low in morale and have no clear idea of their future.
2. What may seem good political win for anti-Tory forces at Westminster feels like mayhem on the ground.
3. No responsible politician can afford to feel happy about "the pause"
and the giant question mark hanging around the structural future of the NHS.
4. Labour has to have their own plan, which advances their own thinking post-government.
Directions for questions 32 to 34: The passage given below is followed by a set of three questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question.
Marx maintains that the ruling ideology is always the ideology of the ruling class and that the set of ideas and thought patterns existing in any epoch will – "in the final instance" – closely follow the material and
social relations of production. As soon as the surplus product emerges and class develops which has control over that surplus, then that class will require that those who do the producing learn to accept the "rules" of production and distribution.
Thus, in feudal society, for example, we will have feudal ideologies that emphasise hierarchy, God-given positions in society, stability and the divine right of kings to rule and a religious form that bolsters those
requirements
The order that prevails will always be seen for extended periods of time as the "natural law" in which the way things are is the way they should be. In bourgeois society the rules change. Stasis and hierarchy are
overthrown in the name of dynamism and innovation and a breaking down of restrictive practices and you become a "self-made man" off to seek your fortune.
Where once the divine right of kings was seen as the natural law, it now becomes unnatural because it is surplus to requirements and is superceded by the human right to remove the head of the king if necessary.
So, the rules may change, but they still have to be learned. However, this learning of the rules is not done merely by repression but by the gradual inculcation of values.
Althusser, for example, describes these two functions as repressive and ideological state apparatuses.
The former is clear, but the latter is far more insidious. It is the way in which the prevailing rules of the game become second nature to you and your obligations are turned into your desires.
Perhaps an unusual way of understanding this is through Kafka's Metamorphosis, perhaps the most famous account ever written of a man who has turned into a beetle overnight. But the real strangeness of
the story is not the fact of the physical transformation but of what it represents. At one point Gregor Samsa says of his family and his work life:
"The fruits of his labour were transformed into the provision of money ... and he earned enough to meet the expenses of the entire family and actually did so. They had just become used to it, the family as well as
Gregor, the money was received with thanks and given with pleasure, but that special warmth was missing."
If this isn't Kafka's spin on Marx's line from the Communist Manifesto that "The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and has reduced the family relation into a mere money relation" then I
don't know what is. Gregor's metamorphosis into a bug is the outward and inward transformation of the need to earn money into his own picture of himself. This is alienation theory in a beetleshell. It is not that
he was poor and therefore suffering and needed to be kept down by a police state, but that the necessity of having to work for others at a job he hates for an amorphous output which doesn't belong to him alienates
him from himself and from his labour power.
32. The author's tone can be best described as
(a) Analytical (b) Descriptive (c) Critical (d) Unbiased
33. As per the content of the passage, which of the following statements is the author most likely to agree with?
(a) The character (Gregor) has some idea of what is being done to him.
(b) The character (Gregor) gets alienated from himself and has no idea of what is being done to him.
(c) Alienation has brought a drastic change in the mindset of the character.
(d) Alienation is the normal psychological response of the character under the given conditions.
34. The author is most likely to agree with which of the following?
(a) We get to learn a lot of new things with time and this leads to our growth as a human being.
(b) The ideas we have about society are not actually our own but are put there by a set of institutions that have convinced us there is no other way to think about the world.
(c) We are not forced by anyone and gradually become more disciplined.
(d) Society plays a pivotal role in imparting good values.
Directions for questions 35 to 37: The passage given below is followed by a set of three questions.
Choose the most appropriate answer to each question. If you read only one book about the causes of the recent financial crisis, let it be Michael Lewis', "The Big Short".
That's not because Lewis has put together the most comprehensive or authoritative analysis of all the misdeeds and misjudgements and missed signals that led to the biggest credit bubble the world has known. What makes his account so accessible is that he tells it through the eyes of the managers of three small hedge funds and a Deutsche Bank bond salesman, none of whom you've ever heard of. All, however, were among the first to see the folly and fraud behind the subprime fiasco, and to find ways to bet against it when everyone else thought them crazy.
Nor would anyone — including Lewis, I'm sure — claim this is an even-handed history that reflects the differing views of investment bankers, rating-agency analysts and industry analysts, all of whom he holds up to ridicule for their arrogance, their cynicism and their relentless incompetence.
What's so delightful about Lewis's writing is how deftly he explains and demystifies how things really work on Wall Street, even while creating a compelling narrative and introducing us to a cast of fascinating, alltoo- human characters. From their tales, we learn that Wall Street banks think nothing of stealing the trading strategies of their clients and peddling them to other customers.
We learn that the investment bankers knew as early as 2006 about the rising default rate on subprime mortgages but engaged in elaborate ruses to hide that reality from ratings agencies and investors. We learn that when investor demand for subprime mortgages outstripped the supply, Wall Street filled the gap by creating "synthetic" mortgage-backed securities whose performance would mirror that of the real thing.
For me, the most memorable chapter in Lewis's tale involves Michael Burry's struggle to keep his fund alive in 2007 and early 2008 as long-time investors lost faith in his strategy to "short" the housing market and began demanding their money back. Although home prices had begun to fall and mortgage defaults were rising quickly, Wall Street's securitization machine had managed to prop up the price of mortgage securities while forcing down the value of the bets Burry had placed against them. And even after the market crashed and Burry's strategy was vindicated with a $720 million profit, not a single investor called to say thanks.
There is nothing subtle about the dark portrait Lewis creates of the financial community. Through his lens, all bond salesmen are out to cheat their customers, all top executives are clueless and all ratings analysts are second-raters who could not get jobs in investment banks.
Even discounting for its generalizations and exaggeration and limited frame of reference, however, "The Big Short" manages to give us the truest picture yet of what went wrong on Wall Street — and why. At times, it reads like a morality play, at other times like a modern-day farce. But as with any good play, its value lies in the way it reveals character and motive and explores the cultural context in which the plot unfolds.
35. What is the primary concern of the author of this passage?
(a) To highlight the merits and demerits of the book "The Big Short".
(b) To make the reader understand the subprime fiasco through the medium of the book.
(c) To present a comprehensive analysis of the book.
(d) To highlight the role of the financial community in the genesis of the subprime crisis.
36. Why does the author feel that "The Big Short" is a book that a reader can connect with?
(a) It is a comprehensive and authoritative analysis of the recent economic crisis.
(b) It is a skillful analysis of the financial intricacies and the workings of the Wall Street.
(c) The book brings together a comprehensive perspective of bankers and analysts.
(d) The story is told through the accounts of characters that were able to see the crisis much before others.
37. According to the passage, which of the following is the main cause of the current economic crisis?
(a) Investment bankers knew about the rising default rate on subprime mortgages yet they overlooked it and even hid this from ratings agencies and investors.
(b) The financial community is weak with clueless executives, bond salesmen who want to cheat their customers, and incompetent ratings analysts.
(c) The overly aggressive lending practices of banks helped put millions of dollars into the home
mortgage business. When the real estate business collapsed, it snowballed and led to the economic crisis.
(d) None of the above
(a) 1 and 3 (b) 2, 3 and 4 (c) 2 and 4 (d) Only 4
Directions for questions 38 to 40: The passage given below is followed by a set of three questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question.
Since Biafra, humanitarianism has become the idea, and the practice, that dominates Western response to other people's wars and natural disasters; of late, it has even become a dominant justification for Western war-making. It is remembered as it was lived, as a cause célèbre—John Lennon and Jean-Paul Sartre both raised their fists for the Biafrans—and the food the West sent certainly did save lives. Yet a moral assessment of the Biafra operation is far from clear-cut.
After the secessionist government was finally forced to surrender and rejoin Nigeria, in 1970, the predicted genocidal massacres never materialized. Had it not been for the West's charity, the Nigerian civil war surely would have ended much sooner. Against the lives that the airlifted aid saved must be weighed all those lives—tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands—that were lost to the extra year and a half of destruction. But the newborn humanitarian international hardly stopped to reflect on this fact. New crises beckoned. The crisis caravan rolled on. Its mood was triumphalist, and to a large degree it remains so.
Michael Maren stumbled into the aid industry in the nineteen-seventies by way of the Peace Corps. "In the post-Vietnam world, the Peace Corps offered us an opportunity to forge a different kind of relationship with the Third World, one based on respect," he writes. But he soon began to wonder how respectful it is to send Western kids to tell the elders of ancient agrarian cultures how to feed themselves better. As hewatched professional humanitarians chasing contracts to implement policies whose harm they plainly saw, he came to regard his colleagues as a new breed of mercenaries: soldiers of misfortune. Yet, David Rieff notes, "for better or worse, by the late 1980s humanitarianism had become the last coherent saving ideal."
How is it that humanitarians so readily deflect accountability for the negative consequences of their actions? "Humanitarianism flourishes as an ethical response to emergencies not just because bad things happen in the world, but also because many people have lost faith in both economic development and political struggle as ways of trying to improve the human lot," the social scientist Craig Calhoun observes. "Humanitarianism appeals to many who seek morally pure and immediately good ways of responding to suffering in the world." Or, as the Harvard law professor David Kennedy writes in "The Dark Sides of Virtue" (2004), "Humanitarianism tempts us to hubris, to an idolatry about our intentions and routines, to the conviction that we know more than we do about what justice can be."
Maren, who came to regard humanitarianism as every bit as damaging to its subjects as colonialism, and vastly more dishonest, takes a dimmer view: that we do not really care about those to whom we send aid, that our focus is our own virtue. He quotes these lines of the Somali poet Ali Dhux: "A man tries hard to help you find your lost camels. He works more tirelessly than even you, but in truth he does not want you to find them, ever."
38. From the passage, what can't be inferred about Biafra?
(a) It is a justification for the West to wage war.
(b) The food sent by the West to Biafra helped save lives.
(c) The West's charity only prolonged the civil war in Nigeria.
(d) A moral assessment of the Biafra operation is ambiguous.
39. Michael Maren call his colleagues "Soldiers of misfortune" because
(a) their philanthropic acts are rescue attempts directed at their own morality.
(b) they are only concerned with allegiances formed with the third world.
(c) they fight against human misery despite the harm involved in the process.
(d) they primarily work for their self benefit.
40. Why does Maren quote the lines of Somali poet Ali Dhux?
(a) To draw an analogy between the humanitarians and the man who provides help in finding lost
camels.
(b) To highlight the hidden motive behind humanitarianism.
(c) To show humanitarians in poor light by comparing them with someone who does philanthropy
with an ulterior motive.
(d) To show that humanitarians are not concerned with the acts of their kindness.
21.Ans (b) The sequence should start with a general statement –
sentence D presents a situation, a general viewpoint.
E will not be a good start point, because sentence D
introduces the viewpoint that there can be political
influences on an organisation. This is also the problem
with B as a starting sentence. In fact, B goes on to
reiterate the point made in D. DB is a link. EA is also a
link as A elaborates on the point made in E. C ends the
sequence by stating the required understanding of
the situation under discussion. The answer is (b).
22.Ans (d) A is the starting sentence because it introduces a
general idea. E goes on to elaborate on this idea, making
AE the starting link. Another way to solve this question
is to look for the ending sentence. D is the best way to
end the paragraph as it uses the demonstrative and
points to the evidence that has been presented.
Sentence B discusses the clues that are presented in
the chemical make up of ice and so D fits in after this
sentence. All the other sentences also point to
evidence of climate change and so D should not only
come after B but should also end the entire sequence.
The answer is (d).
23.Ans (b) The paragraph is about the resistance to genuine
creativity. The starting point should be D as it introduces
the argument. E and A are linked. E also follows D
because it presents an additional problem of
downgrading creativity. B ends the sequence as it
sums up the argument of the author. The answer is
(b).
24.Ans (d) (a) Get across means to communicate or transmit a
message/joke etc.
(b)Get around means to circulate or spread.
(c) Getting at somebody means to criticize or
persistently nag.
(d) is wrong - the expression is get away— not get
off.
25.Ans (c) (a) Hanging around means wait around idly.
(b) Hesitate to do something because of fear etc.It
means to hold back.
(c) is wrong. Hung back after the lecture is not
idiomatically correct english, though it is used as a
slang. The correct expression is "hung behind" which
means to stop or remain behind.
(d) Hang on to something means(here) not to give or
sell.
26.Ans (a) Parochial means narrow-minded and having only a
limited perspective. Diversity represents an idea which
is opposite to a parochial perspective. Therefore,
someone who celebrates "diversity" would infuriate a
parochial person.
27.Ans (b) Elicit means to draw forth or bring out. It fits the first
blank well. The beethoven quartet is compared with a
tragedy and like a tragedy it brings pleasure. Therefore
it cannot be sad.
28.Ans (c) Effect and affect are often confused because of their
similar spelling and pronunciation. The
verb affect usually has to do with pretense
<she affected a cheery disposition despite feeling
down.> The more common affect denotes having an
effect or influence <the weather affected everyone's
mood.> The verb effect goes beyond mere influence;
it refers to actual achievement of a final result <the
new administration hopes to effect a peace
settlement.> The uncommon noun affect, which has a
meaning relating to psychology, is also sometimes
mistakenly used for the very common effect. In
ordinary use, the noun you will want is effect <waiting
for the new law to take effect> <the weather had
an effect on everyone's mood.> Activated means to
make a thing active (make it start working). Actuate
means to motivate. Here the word to be used is
actuate. Averse means to be unwilling and reluctant.
Adverse means opposed. Here the word to be used
is averse. Indite means to make up, compose and put
down in writing. Indict means to charge with a fault or
offence: Criticise, Accuse.
29.Ans (d) Ascribed means attributed to. Prescribe means to tell
what is to be done/ or what medicine to take. Aspirant
is a person who has a strong desire to achieve a
position of power or to win a competition; an aspirator
is a medical term. It is a device used for sucking out
liquid from a person's body. Emend means to correct
usually by textual alterations. Amend means to change
or modify for the better. Complement means
to complete or enhance by providing something
additional. Compliment means to express esteem,
respect, affection, or admiration to someone.
30.Ans (c) (a) doesn't continue in the same vein as the paragraph,
it is not able to provide a link between the lack of
relevance of the Oscars and the consideration of all
forms of audio-visual entertainment for the Oscars.
(b) assumes that the Oscars are losing relevance
because of the decline in grown-up films and creative
projects. It fails to acknowledge other possible
reasons. (d) talks about 'Made for TV' movies, which
haven't been discussed till now; also it fails to provide
the link between the Oscars and the 'Made for TV'
movies. (c) elaborates why the Oscars are becoming
irrelevant by bringing in the example of a performance
in a 'Made for TV' movie that should have been
considered for the Oscars but was not considered.
Hence, it is the correct option.
31.Ans (b) The sentence 1 is correct. As 'win' is a countable
noun, the correction in 2 is 'a good political win'. 'Hang
around' which means to spend a lot of time with
someone is incorrectly used in 3. The correction should
be 'hanging over'. If a threat or doubt hangs over a
place or a situation, it exists (for example:Uncertainty
again hangs over the project). There is a subject-verb
agreement error in 4. It should be 'Labour has to have
its own plan which advances its own thinking postgovernment'.
32.Ans (a) The author analyses the theory of Karl Marx about
ideologies and alienation. He uses Kafka's
Metamorphosis as a tool to analyse Karl Marx's theory.
Therefore, his tone is analytical.
33. Ans (b) In bourgeois society the rules change and the learning
of the rules is not done merely by repression but by
the gradual inculcation of values. Althusser, for
example, describes these two functions as repressive
and ideological state apparatuses. The former is
clear, but the latter is far more insidious. It is the way
in which the prevailing rules of the game become
second nature to you and your obligations are turned
into your desires. So, you pull your socks and get into
the process of earning money for your family. Perhaps
an unusual way of understanding this is through
metamorphosis. Gregor's metamorphosis into a bug is
the outward and inward transformation of the need to
earn money into his own picture of himself. This is
alienation theory in a beetle shell. Gregor gets alienated
from himself but he is not aware of this. (a) is incorrect
as it says that the man has some idea of what the
bourgeois society is doing to him. (He has idea about
what he is doing for his family but no idea of what the
bourgeois society is making him do.) Alienation is not
the cause but one of the effects of the drastic change
that the bourgeois society has brought about on the
man's mind. So (c) is incorrect. Author does not talk or
imply about whether this alienation is a normal or
abnormal response. Hence, (b) is the correct option.
34.Ans (b) The ruling class make us learn its rules by repression
as well as by gradually making its rules a part of our
nature and turning our obligations into our desires. So
the ideas that we have in our mind are insinuated by
the society(they are not ours). So the author is most
likely to agree with (b).
35.Ans (c) (a) is negated as highlighting only the merits and
demerits is not the primary objective of the author. The
author does not even intend to make the readers
understand the subprime crisis. His purpose is to
comprehensively analyse the book "The Big Short".
Hence, (c) is the correct option.
36.Ans (d) The word accessible in the following lines, "What
makes his account so accessible is that he tells it
through the eyes of the managers of three small hedge
funds…however, were among the first to see the
folly and fraud behind the subprime fiasco", refers to
something capable of being understood or appreciated.
These lines clearly indicate that a reader can connect
with the book as it tells the story through the accounts
of characters that were able to see the crisis much
before others.
37.Ans (d) Although (a) and (b) have been mentioned in the
passage, they are only presented as elements of the
economic crisis. (c) has not been mentioned in the
passage. The main cause of the recent enomic crises
cannot be identified from the passage.
38.Ans (a) Refer to the line, "John Lennon and Jean-Paul
Sartre…the food the West sent certainly did save
lives", which supports (b). Refer to the line, "Had it not
been…the Nigerian civil war surely would have ended
much sooner", which supports (c). Refer to the line,
"Yet a moral assessment of the Biafra operation is far
from clear-cut", which supports (d). However (a)
cannot be inferred by the passage.
39.Ans (d) The author uses the term soldiers of misfortune instead
of the proper expression "soldiers of fortune" for
mercenaries- in his view humanitarian aid workers
are like mercenaries ready to fight/ work for anyone
who pays them-not really inspired by the spirit of
charity/sympathy etc. Hence, the correct answer is
(d).
40.Ans (b) Maren quotes the lines of Somali poet Ali Dhux to reveal
the truth behind humanitarianism. Maren does draw a
parallel between humanitarians and the man who
provides help in finding lost camels in order to highlight
that in both the cases there is some hidden motive
involved Although the work done in both cases seems
philanthropic. The aim of the author is not to show
humanitarians in poor light. Hence (c) is incorrect. (d)
nowhere gets mentioned or suggested in the passage.
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