Directions for questions 1 to 3: The passage given below is followed by a set of three questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question.
In this age of fierce competition between Internet marketing and traditional retail, merchants want to know: Which approach stirs potential customers most?
Experiments by neuroeconomist Antonio Rangel and his colleagues suggest that the old pop song chorus— "Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby"—might have it right.
The findings could be relevant to more than shopping, however. They may give insight into the ways our brains assign value in the computational activity that is human choice.
"Whether the stimuli are physically present or not really affects the values you assign and the choices you make," says Rangel, a California Institute of Technology researcher who published the research results with his colleagues in the American Economic Review in September.
Rangel, an economist-turned-neuroscientist, is one of those people eager to find the biological basis for human behavior, including choice making. He and many others have concluded that choices are made based on the values people assign to the options they encounter.
In a series of experiments, his group set out to learn how people assign values to the same goods presented differently: as text on a computer screen, as a high-quality photograph on the same screen or as the thing itself.
They randomly presented more than 50 hungry Caltech students with snack foods such as candy bars, potato chips and other sweet and salty snacks, one by one, in three different conditions: a text condition where the food's name was written; a high-resolution picture of the food; or the actual snack in a tray. The students were asked to assign values to each of the foods.
On average, there was no difference in the subjects' willingness to pay for the foods between the text and picture conditions, but subjects were willing to pay, on average, 50 percent more for items that were physically present. Importantly, these were real decisions: Subjects purchased those items at the stated price.
Concerned that noses rather than brains were guiding these judgments, the authors repeated the experiment with something other than food. They asked their subjects to rate Caltech paraphernalia: key chains, pens and baseball caps. The students still were willing to pay about 50 percent more for the goods in the real condition, with no difference between text and picture. "We were shocked when it replicated with all of our goods, like the trinkets," Rangel says. "Somehow the brain knows it is present, and computes the value of stimuli differently when this is the case."
To gain more insight about the mechanisms in play, the team repeated the food experiment, but this time placed the actual food behind clear Plexiglas so that subjects could see the foods just as before, but could not reach or smell them. When behind glass, the real condition's advantage disappeared. The authors argue that this suggests that the original effect is triggered by the activation of automatic approach responses (often called Pavlovian processes) that strike when a highly appealing, or "appetitive," item is placed within sight and reach of a subject.
The findings reinforced questions that nag at Rangel. "We want to understand not just how signals get coded in the brain but how they are constructed at the time of choice. What are the inputs that determine what values get assigned? How is that affected by learning? How is it affected by a lot of perceptual information in the environment?" Rangel asks.
The researcher's working hypothesis is that seeing something that you know you could reach out and grab, if you really needed to, generates a larger cue in the brain than simply seeing an extrapolation of the same object.
1. According to the passage, the purpose of the experiments on Caltech students was to understand
(a) which approach stirs potential customers most.
(b) the way our brain assigns values to activities.
(c) the biological basis of human behaviour in making choices.
(d) human responses to actual objects.
2. From the information on the findings of the researchers, which of the following situations would send the strongest signals to the brain?
(a) A sweater displayed on a mannequin at the store entrance.
(b) A sweater displayed by a model walking on the ramp.
(c) A woman knitting a sweater behind a glass counter.
(d) A sweater gift wrapped attractively.
3. The passage can be best described as
(a) Hypothetical
(b) Argumentative
(c) Factual
(d) Experimental
Directions for questions 4 to 7: The passage given below is followed by a set of four questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question.
How would one search for knowledge? The things which he knows requires no search, for he already knows. The things which he does not know, he does not know what he's going to search for – this is Meno's Paradox, also called the Sophistic Paradox.
In Meno, Plato eliminates the paradox by developing his theory of recollection through Socrates. A contradiction is an always-false statement. For example, if P is any statement, then P and the negation of P is a contradiction. A contradiction cannot be made true. A paradox, however, is a set of statements that leads one into a contradiction. So a paradox misleads us.
The sophistic paradox tells us that we have no way to acquire knowledge. However, the sophistic paradox must be an illusion since we do acquire knowledge. It is reasonable, then, to look for a problem in the exposition of the paradox. Plato does the investigation and he finds a way out of the problem.
Socrates explains that the human soul is immortal and has been born many times. The soul has seen everything that there is to be seen and there is nothing that it has not learned. Therefore, it is not absurd to believe that it's possible for the soul to recollect things that it already knows from past existences. What men call learning, Socrates calls recollection. But we have no evidence for souls, immortality, et cetera; we have no considerable evidence of these things; so Plato's theory is unfounded. However, the conclusion of his theory has interesting implications in education, as we shall see.
In Meno, Socrates presents a geometrical problem after having Meno's attendant agree on the definition of a square. It is understood that the problem is to find a square with twice the size of the first. Socrates initiates a series of suggestions followed by questions that induces the boy into concluding a false statement, then into a correction, and finally to a correct solution. Since the boy is only suggested to, questioned, and induced,
Socrates concludes that the boy already had the knowledge needed to solve the problem and has only recollected it. Socrates' experiment with Meno's attendant is an evidence of the existence of the possibility of learning. It proves something, as Sharples would put it. Whatever Plato's plan was, he would be able to successfully eliminate the paradox if he could provide one example in which knowledge is acquired. If learning is possible, then the sophistic paradox poses an illusory impossibility.
Plato's emphasis is on the existence of the method of recollection. He is not even concerned with how to apply the method. If he were, we would see a lot more arguments that confirm that Meno's attendant really learned what he learned, and we would also see examples that illustrate the method. But we don't, so Plato is not concerned with these; Plato is mainly concerned with the fact that the boy saw the result by himself; that he acquired that knowledge by himself. Socrates shows him the way, and he is able to see it with his own mind.
Socrates shows A and B, and the boy is able to confirm, in his brain, that there is something that tells him if A, then B and therefore he draws the imaginary arrow from A to B - we will have more to say about this later.
4. What is the primary purpose of this passage?
(a) To compare Socrates' and Plato's observations from the experiment on Meno's attendant.
(b) To prove the fallacy inherent in the Sophistic Paradox.
(c) To explain the basis for and critically analyse Plato's theory of recollection.
(d) To discuss the paradox that exists in man's search for knowledge.
5. Which one of these is mentioned as Plato's main concern?
(a) The implication of a theory developed by him.
(b) The existence of a theory developed by him.
(c) Proving Socrates' views on the method of recollection.
(d) The immortality of the soul as an axiom of Plato's theory.
6. Which of the following can be inferred about Plato's theory of recollection?
(a) The human soul is immortal.
(b) The human soul reincarnates.
(c) The human soul recollects truths.
(d) The human soul has seen everything there is to be seen.
7. Why does the author claim that the Sophistic Paradox is an illusion?
(a) Reincarnation makes it possible for the soul to have a recollection of truths before birth.
(b) Plato is unable to provide an example in which learning is acquired.
(c) Learning is possible and knowledge can be acquired.
(d) Socrates claims that learning is not acquired, yet his experiment proves otherwise.
Directions for questions 8 to 10: The passage given below is followed by a set of three questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question.
Plain speaking is necessary in any discussion of religion, for if the freethinker attacks the religious dogmas with hesitation, the orthodox believer assumes that it is with regret that the freethinker would remove the crutch that supports the orthodox. And all religious beliefs are "crutches" hindering the free locomotive efforts of an advancing humanity. There are no problems related to human progress and happiness in this age which any theology can solve, and which the teachings of free thought cannot do better and without the aid of encumbrances.
Havelock Ellis has stated that, "The man who has never wrestled with his early faith, the faith that he was brought up with and that yet is not truly his own—for no faith is our own that we have not arduously won—has missed not only a moral but an intellectual discipline. The absence of that discipline may mark a man for life and render all his work ineffective. He has missed a training in criticism, in analysis, in openmindedness, in the resolutely impersonal treatment of personal problems, which no other training can compensate. He is, for the most part, condemned to live in a mental jungle where his arm will soon be too feeble to clear away the growths that enclose him, and his eyes too weak to find the light." The man who has allowed his mental capacities to clear his way through the dense underbrush of religious dogma finds that he has emerged into a purer and healthier atmosphere. In the bright light of this mental emancipation a man perceives the falsities of all religions in their historic, scientific, and metaphysical aspects. The healthier mental viewpoint holds up to scorn and discards the reactionary religious philosophy of morals, and the sum total of his conclusions must be that religion is doomed; and doomed in this modern day by its absolute irrelevance to the needs and interests of modern life. And this not only by the steadily increasing army of freethinkers, but by the indifference and neglect of those who still cling to the fast slipping folds of religious creeds— the future freethinkers.
It was Spinoza who remarked that, "The proper study of a wise man is not how to die but how to live." Religious creeds can but teach how man should live, so that when he dies, he may be assured of salvation; and the important thing is not what he does to help his fellow men while he is living, but how closely he lives in conformity to a reactionary code of dogmas. Religion has always aimed to smooth the sufferer's passage to the next world, not to save him for this world.
Free thought has dethroned the gods from the pedestal, and has replaced, not an empty idol, but an ideal, the ideal of a man who is his own god.
8. According to the author when a man unquestioningly accepts his religion and its dogmas, he
(a) has mastered intellectual discipline.
(b) has won his faith.
(c) emerges in a pure and healthy atmosphere for his faith.
(d) misses a crucial training in criticism and broad-mindedness.
9. What does the statement "The proper study of a wise man is not how to die but how to live" mean?
(a) The subject of study of a wise man should be life not death.
(b) One should know how wise men lived not how they died.
(c) Philosophy is all about life and death.
(d) One should be obsessed with life, not death.
10. The author is most likely to be
(a) a fanatic
(b) a bigot
(c) an atheist
(d) a rationalist
11. 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. Images of the core of NGC 4150, taken in near-ultraviolet light with the sharp-eyed Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), reveal streamers of dust and gas and clumps of young, blue stars that are significantly less than a billion years old.
B. Elliptical galaxies were once thought to be aging star cities whose star-making heyday was billions of years ago.
C. Evidence shows that the star birth was sparked by a merger with a dwarf galaxy.
D. But new observations with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope are helping to show that elliptical galaxies still have some youthful vigor left, thanks to encounters with smaller galaxies.
E. The new study helps bolster the emerging view that most elliptical galaxies have young stars, bringing new life to old galaxies.
(a) ADECB (b) BDEAC (c) BDACE (d) ACDBE
12. 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. A smattering of do-gooders plead for reform.
B. But it is hard to figure out exactly what sets them into motion or brings them to success.
C. Vast moral revolutions do take place once in a while.
D. A high-minded prophet in some part of the world denounces an old and dreadful social custom.
E. The reform in question appears, at a glance, to be impractical, unpopular, and unlikely.
(a) CBDAE (b) ABDEC (c) DACBE (d) ABCDE
13. 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.
EASE
(a) The Government appears to have eased back on the RTI act.
(b) The tension between the two countries has eased off.
(c) He crossed the road when the traffic had eased in.
(d) When things ease up a bit, I'll go and meet him.
14. 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.
CHIP
(a) The opposition chipped away at the power of the government.
(b) The sculptor was chipping off at the stone.
(c) The paint has chipped off.
(d) If everyone chips in we will be able to buy a nice gift.
15. 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.
Traditionally, Indonesians practiced a tolerant, almost ____________ brand of faith, ______ with the Buddhist, Hindu and the animist traditions of earlier periods.
(a) aesthetic, imbibed
(b) syncretic, infused
(c) hermetic, impelled
(d) emetic, infused
16. 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.
The more I thought about the vibrant___________ Scottish nationalists driving a debate north of the border about what kind of relationship it wants with England, the more I grimly ____________the fallout on this side of the border.
(a) rejuvenated, contemplated
(b) empowered, sustained
(c) imaginative, learned
(d) outspoken, ascertained
17. 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.
Any judgment by the supreme court is a definite(A)/definitive(B) one; it can't be challenged by the lower courts.
Every system of justice strives for an equitable(A)/equable(B) distribution of wealth and resources.
Metaphysics is such an esoteric(A)/exoteric(B) subject that only a handful of people can speak at length on it.
Her greatest asset was her long and luxurious(A)/luxuriant(B) hair.
(a) ABAB (b) BAAB (c) BBBB (d) AAAA
18. 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 artist uses a rich palate(A)/palette(B) of tones and timbres. It is a novel that wallows in gross sentimentality and bathos(A)/pathos(B). She was ingenuous enough to buy the meretricious(A)/meritorious(B) product from the vendor. A whopping ninety percent of the respondents unequivocably(A)/unequivocally(B) said "Yes".
(a) BAAB (b) BAAA (c) ABAB (d) BABA
19. 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.
Zero has had a long history. The Babylonians invented the concept of zero; the ancient Greeks debated it in lofty terms (how could something be nothing?); the ancient Indian scholar Pingala paired Zero with the numeral 1 to get double digits; and both the Mayans and the Romans made Zero part of their numeral systems. But Zero finally found its place around AD 498, when the Indian astronomer Aryabhatta sat up in bed one morning and exclaimed, "Sthanam sthanam dasa gunam'- which translates, roughly as, "place to place in ten times in value". With that, the idea of decimal based place value notion was born.
(a) Now Zero was on a roll.
(b) Now Zero spread to the Arab world.
(c) Zero ultimately found plenty of employment (together with the digit1).
(d) Zero ultimately flourished in Silicon valley.
20. 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.
And so I cried and I prayed, and as months passed, the ceiling above my bed slowly went back to being just a ceiling. Taking Lucette by the hand, I went back to school. There were hundreds of other children like me, children who had done nothing wrong and who, like me, had suffered some tragedy and were waiting patiently serving out their time, coping as best as they could.
(a) If they did not ask questions, it was because they knew they would not like the answers.
(b) At night, in the darkness, I brooded on my sadness.
(c)I had loved this town all my life and today, I had to leave it.
(d)The tension was palpable- the anger almost burnt the walls.
1.Ans (c) Refer to lines 9-12 where the author says Rangel, an
economist-turned-neuroscientist, is one of those
people eager to find the biological basis for human
behavior, including choice making. He and many others
have concluded that choices are made based on the
values people assign to the options they encounter.
2.Ans (a) Here the subject is most aware of the product, hence
it would send the strongest signals to the brain. (c)
and (d) will not work as the subjects can't touch or
see the product. (b) is a close option. However, the
reach afforded by a sweater displayed by a model
walking on the ramp is less as compared to the reach
afforded by a sweater displayed on a mannequin at
the store entrance.
3.Ans (c) The passage is based on experiments on human
behaviour and the results. The language and content
both are objective and based on facts.
4.Ans (b) The passage mentions Socrates' and Plato's
viewpoints. However, it doesn't venture into a
comparison of the two viewpoints. The passage starts
with an introduction of Meno's paradox and moves on
to discuss how Plato eliminates this paradox through
his theory of recollection. But it does not analyze the
theory. (d) is very general and does not correctly
bring out the specific aspects of the passage. The
author has consistently stated that the Sophistic
Paradox is illusory and goes on to prove the same.
Hence, (b) is the correct answer.
5.Ans (b) The penultimate paragraph states that Plato was
concerned more with the existence of the theory of
recollection and not even its application. The
penultimate paragraph also clearly indicates that Plato
did not aim to prove Socrates' point of view. The
immortality of the soul could be an axiom of Plato's
theory, however, this can't be surely gathered from
the passage and it is clear that this was not Plato's
main aim.
6.Ans (c) Meno's paradox questions the search for knowledge,
however, Plato eliminates this paradox through his
theory of recollection. His principal attention is placed
on the existence of this theory and though mention
has been made of the immortality of the soul and
reincarnation, these are not the main concerns of his
theory. As mentioned in the passage, the human soul
has seen everything there is to be seen, however,
this is also not the main concern of his theory of
recollection. (c) mentions that the human soul recollects
truths or knowledge – here truth has not been used
as the opposite of falsity. It has been used to indicate
something that has been experienced or gathered
through existences or births.
7.Ans (c) The Sophistic Paradox questions the search for
knowledge indicating that it is not possible to search
for knowledge. However the author also goes on to
discuss in the second paragraph that a paradox is
misleading. In the third paragraph he mentions that the
sophistic paradox is an illusion because we do acquire
knowledge. The rest of the passage is spent in
discussing Socrates' experiment with Meno's
attendant and Plato's perspective that reveals that
learning is possible and the soul recollects all that it
has learnt. (a) is not directly mentioned in the passage
and it is not the reason why the sophistic paradox is
an illusion. (b) is not indicated in the passage and (d)
is false.
8.Ans (d) Refer to para 2 lines 14-16 where the author talks
about the many things which a person misses if he
unquestioningly accepts religious dogma.
9.Ans (a) Inferential question- the author says religion teaches
a man to live the kind of life which it says will lead man
to salvation—but the focus of study( as Spinoza said)
should be life and how it should be lived. The aim of
life is not death and salvation.
10.Ans (d) The author of the passage debunks the dogmatic
approach to religion and advocates freethinking
throughout the passage. He follows a 'rationalist'
approach. The passage nowhere suggests that the
author is an atheist (one who denies the existence of
God).
11.Ans (c) Sentence B talks about an idea that was once thought
to be correct. Sentence D presents the present stream
of thought which is different from the original idea as
presented in B. Hence BD is a mandatory pair and 'but'
in D is a good clue. Sentence D is followed by sentence
A as the latter states the new observations mentioned
in sentence D. In sentence C, the clue is 'the star'
already referred to in sentence A as 'blue stars'.
Sentence E is the concluding sentence.
12.Ans (a) The strongest clue here is AE, which is a mandatory
pair. Sentence A mentions 'reform' and sentence E
refers to the same as 'the reform'. Using elimination
one can easily arrive at option (a) being the right
answer. Also, sentence C is a generalized sentence
hence it should come at the beginning of the paragraph.
CB is also a mandatory pair as 'them' in sentence B
refers to 'revolutions' in sentence C.
13.Ans (c) (a) Ease back- move slowly or with less commitment
(b) Ease off-become less severe or intense.
Option (c) is wrong. The expression should be "eased
off". "Eased in" means to move in gently and carefullyyou
ease in behind the wheel of a car.
(d)Ease up means (here) become less pressing or
urgent.
(e)Ease off means (informally) do something less
intensely.
14.Ans (b) Chipped away means to make weak gradually.
Chipped off is wrong. Chipped away, which means to
break small pieces off something, is the correct
expression.
15.Ans (b) Syncretic means uniting and blending together
different systems, as of philosophy, morals, or religion.
16.Ans (a) The sentence discusses the author's contemplation
of the effects of the debate that is being driven by the
Scottish nationalists. Keeping this context in mind, the
second blank can be filled only by 'contemplated'.
Hence, (a) is the right answer.
17.Ans (b) Definitive (of a conclusion or agreement) means
decisive and with an authority. Equitable means just or
fair or marked by principles of fairness or equity.
Esoteric means secret or known only to a few people.
Luxuriant means growing in abundance.
18.Ans (a) Palette-a range, quality or use of available
elements.(palette is also the name of an artist's mixing
board). Bathos-insincere pathos; sentimentality;
mawkishness. Meretricious-flashy, gaudy, spurious.
Unequivocally means clearly and without doubt.
19.Ans (a) The paragraph discusses the history of zero and how
it came into use. Once the idea of decimal based place
value came into existence, zero became popular. It
was on a roll. Hence option (a) is correct. (c), which
is a close option, can't be the answer as the pairing of
zero with the numeral 1 gets discussed in the second
line of the paragraph.
20.Ans (a) The last sentence of the paragraph is about how,
apart from the author, there were 'hundreds of other
children', who were going through the same ordeal.
Their approach to the ordeal was one of patience.
They were coping with it as best as they could. In
such a context option (a), which describes the children
silently accepting their fate and not asking any
questions comes across as the best answer. Also,
the 'they' in this option has an antecedent in the
'children'.
In this age of fierce competition between Internet marketing and traditional retail, merchants want to know: Which approach stirs potential customers most?
Experiments by neuroeconomist Antonio Rangel and his colleagues suggest that the old pop song chorus— "Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby"—might have it right.
The findings could be relevant to more than shopping, however. They may give insight into the ways our brains assign value in the computational activity that is human choice.
"Whether the stimuli are physically present or not really affects the values you assign and the choices you make," says Rangel, a California Institute of Technology researcher who published the research results with his colleagues in the American Economic Review in September.
Rangel, an economist-turned-neuroscientist, is one of those people eager to find the biological basis for human behavior, including choice making. He and many others have concluded that choices are made based on the values people assign to the options they encounter.
In a series of experiments, his group set out to learn how people assign values to the same goods presented differently: as text on a computer screen, as a high-quality photograph on the same screen or as the thing itself.
They randomly presented more than 50 hungry Caltech students with snack foods such as candy bars, potato chips and other sweet and salty snacks, one by one, in three different conditions: a text condition where the food's name was written; a high-resolution picture of the food; or the actual snack in a tray. The students were asked to assign values to each of the foods.
On average, there was no difference in the subjects' willingness to pay for the foods between the text and picture conditions, but subjects were willing to pay, on average, 50 percent more for items that were physically present. Importantly, these were real decisions: Subjects purchased those items at the stated price.
Concerned that noses rather than brains were guiding these judgments, the authors repeated the experiment with something other than food. They asked their subjects to rate Caltech paraphernalia: key chains, pens and baseball caps. The students still were willing to pay about 50 percent more for the goods in the real condition, with no difference between text and picture. "We were shocked when it replicated with all of our goods, like the trinkets," Rangel says. "Somehow the brain knows it is present, and computes the value of stimuli differently when this is the case."
To gain more insight about the mechanisms in play, the team repeated the food experiment, but this time placed the actual food behind clear Plexiglas so that subjects could see the foods just as before, but could not reach or smell them. When behind glass, the real condition's advantage disappeared. The authors argue that this suggests that the original effect is triggered by the activation of automatic approach responses (often called Pavlovian processes) that strike when a highly appealing, or "appetitive," item is placed within sight and reach of a subject.
The findings reinforced questions that nag at Rangel. "We want to understand not just how signals get coded in the brain but how they are constructed at the time of choice. What are the inputs that determine what values get assigned? How is that affected by learning? How is it affected by a lot of perceptual information in the environment?" Rangel asks.
The researcher's working hypothesis is that seeing something that you know you could reach out and grab, if you really needed to, generates a larger cue in the brain than simply seeing an extrapolation of the same object.
1. According to the passage, the purpose of the experiments on Caltech students was to understand
(a) which approach stirs potential customers most.
(b) the way our brain assigns values to activities.
(c) the biological basis of human behaviour in making choices.
(d) human responses to actual objects.
2. From the information on the findings of the researchers, which of the following situations would send the strongest signals to the brain?
(a) A sweater displayed on a mannequin at the store entrance.
(b) A sweater displayed by a model walking on the ramp.
(c) A woman knitting a sweater behind a glass counter.
(d) A sweater gift wrapped attractively.
3. The passage can be best described as
(a) Hypothetical
(b) Argumentative
(c) Factual
(d) Experimental
Directions for questions 4 to 7: The passage given below is followed by a set of four questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question.
How would one search for knowledge? The things which he knows requires no search, for he already knows. The things which he does not know, he does not know what he's going to search for – this is Meno's Paradox, also called the Sophistic Paradox.
In Meno, Plato eliminates the paradox by developing his theory of recollection through Socrates. A contradiction is an always-false statement. For example, if P is any statement, then P and the negation of P is a contradiction. A contradiction cannot be made true. A paradox, however, is a set of statements that leads one into a contradiction. So a paradox misleads us.
The sophistic paradox tells us that we have no way to acquire knowledge. However, the sophistic paradox must be an illusion since we do acquire knowledge. It is reasonable, then, to look for a problem in the exposition of the paradox. Plato does the investigation and he finds a way out of the problem.
Socrates explains that the human soul is immortal and has been born many times. The soul has seen everything that there is to be seen and there is nothing that it has not learned. Therefore, it is not absurd to believe that it's possible for the soul to recollect things that it already knows from past existences. What men call learning, Socrates calls recollection. But we have no evidence for souls, immortality, et cetera; we have no considerable evidence of these things; so Plato's theory is unfounded. However, the conclusion of his theory has interesting implications in education, as we shall see.
In Meno, Socrates presents a geometrical problem after having Meno's attendant agree on the definition of a square. It is understood that the problem is to find a square with twice the size of the first. Socrates initiates a series of suggestions followed by questions that induces the boy into concluding a false statement, then into a correction, and finally to a correct solution. Since the boy is only suggested to, questioned, and induced,
Socrates concludes that the boy already had the knowledge needed to solve the problem and has only recollected it. Socrates' experiment with Meno's attendant is an evidence of the existence of the possibility of learning. It proves something, as Sharples would put it. Whatever Plato's plan was, he would be able to successfully eliminate the paradox if he could provide one example in which knowledge is acquired. If learning is possible, then the sophistic paradox poses an illusory impossibility.
Plato's emphasis is on the existence of the method of recollection. He is not even concerned with how to apply the method. If he were, we would see a lot more arguments that confirm that Meno's attendant really learned what he learned, and we would also see examples that illustrate the method. But we don't, so Plato is not concerned with these; Plato is mainly concerned with the fact that the boy saw the result by himself; that he acquired that knowledge by himself. Socrates shows him the way, and he is able to see it with his own mind.
Socrates shows A and B, and the boy is able to confirm, in his brain, that there is something that tells him if A, then B and therefore he draws the imaginary arrow from A to B - we will have more to say about this later.
4. What is the primary purpose of this passage?
(a) To compare Socrates' and Plato's observations from the experiment on Meno's attendant.
(b) To prove the fallacy inherent in the Sophistic Paradox.
(c) To explain the basis for and critically analyse Plato's theory of recollection.
(d) To discuss the paradox that exists in man's search for knowledge.
5. Which one of these is mentioned as Plato's main concern?
(a) The implication of a theory developed by him.
(b) The existence of a theory developed by him.
(c) Proving Socrates' views on the method of recollection.
(d) The immortality of the soul as an axiom of Plato's theory.
6. Which of the following can be inferred about Plato's theory of recollection?
(a) The human soul is immortal.
(b) The human soul reincarnates.
(c) The human soul recollects truths.
(d) The human soul has seen everything there is to be seen.
7. Why does the author claim that the Sophistic Paradox is an illusion?
(a) Reincarnation makes it possible for the soul to have a recollection of truths before birth.
(b) Plato is unable to provide an example in which learning is acquired.
(c) Learning is possible and knowledge can be acquired.
(d) Socrates claims that learning is not acquired, yet his experiment proves otherwise.
Directions for questions 8 to 10: The passage given below is followed by a set of three questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question.
Plain speaking is necessary in any discussion of religion, for if the freethinker attacks the religious dogmas with hesitation, the orthodox believer assumes that it is with regret that the freethinker would remove the crutch that supports the orthodox. And all religious beliefs are "crutches" hindering the free locomotive efforts of an advancing humanity. There are no problems related to human progress and happiness in this age which any theology can solve, and which the teachings of free thought cannot do better and without the aid of encumbrances.
Havelock Ellis has stated that, "The man who has never wrestled with his early faith, the faith that he was brought up with and that yet is not truly his own—for no faith is our own that we have not arduously won—has missed not only a moral but an intellectual discipline. The absence of that discipline may mark a man for life and render all his work ineffective. He has missed a training in criticism, in analysis, in openmindedness, in the resolutely impersonal treatment of personal problems, which no other training can compensate. He is, for the most part, condemned to live in a mental jungle where his arm will soon be too feeble to clear away the growths that enclose him, and his eyes too weak to find the light." The man who has allowed his mental capacities to clear his way through the dense underbrush of religious dogma finds that he has emerged into a purer and healthier atmosphere. In the bright light of this mental emancipation a man perceives the falsities of all religions in their historic, scientific, and metaphysical aspects. The healthier mental viewpoint holds up to scorn and discards the reactionary religious philosophy of morals, and the sum total of his conclusions must be that religion is doomed; and doomed in this modern day by its absolute irrelevance to the needs and interests of modern life. And this not only by the steadily increasing army of freethinkers, but by the indifference and neglect of those who still cling to the fast slipping folds of religious creeds— the future freethinkers.
It was Spinoza who remarked that, "The proper study of a wise man is not how to die but how to live." Religious creeds can but teach how man should live, so that when he dies, he may be assured of salvation; and the important thing is not what he does to help his fellow men while he is living, but how closely he lives in conformity to a reactionary code of dogmas. Religion has always aimed to smooth the sufferer's passage to the next world, not to save him for this world.
Free thought has dethroned the gods from the pedestal, and has replaced, not an empty idol, but an ideal, the ideal of a man who is his own god.
8. According to the author when a man unquestioningly accepts his religion and its dogmas, he
(a) has mastered intellectual discipline.
(b) has won his faith.
(c) emerges in a pure and healthy atmosphere for his faith.
(d) misses a crucial training in criticism and broad-mindedness.
9. What does the statement "The proper study of a wise man is not how to die but how to live" mean?
(a) The subject of study of a wise man should be life not death.
(b) One should know how wise men lived not how they died.
(c) Philosophy is all about life and death.
(d) One should be obsessed with life, not death.
10. The author is most likely to be
(a) a fanatic
(b) a bigot
(c) an atheist
(d) a rationalist
11. 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. Images of the core of NGC 4150, taken in near-ultraviolet light with the sharp-eyed Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), reveal streamers of dust and gas and clumps of young, blue stars that are significantly less than a billion years old.
B. Elliptical galaxies were once thought to be aging star cities whose star-making heyday was billions of years ago.
C. Evidence shows that the star birth was sparked by a merger with a dwarf galaxy.
D. But new observations with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope are helping to show that elliptical galaxies still have some youthful vigor left, thanks to encounters with smaller galaxies.
E. The new study helps bolster the emerging view that most elliptical galaxies have young stars, bringing new life to old galaxies.
(a) ADECB (b) BDEAC (c) BDACE (d) ACDBE
12. 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. A smattering of do-gooders plead for reform.
B. But it is hard to figure out exactly what sets them into motion or brings them to success.
C. Vast moral revolutions do take place once in a while.
D. A high-minded prophet in some part of the world denounces an old and dreadful social custom.
E. The reform in question appears, at a glance, to be impractical, unpopular, and unlikely.
(a) CBDAE (b) ABDEC (c) DACBE (d) ABCDE
13. 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.
EASE
(a) The Government appears to have eased back on the RTI act.
(b) The tension between the two countries has eased off.
(c) He crossed the road when the traffic had eased in.
(d) When things ease up a bit, I'll go and meet him.
14. 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.
CHIP
(a) The opposition chipped away at the power of the government.
(b) The sculptor was chipping off at the stone.
(c) The paint has chipped off.
(d) If everyone chips in we will be able to buy a nice gift.
15. 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.
Traditionally, Indonesians practiced a tolerant, almost ____________ brand of faith, ______ with the Buddhist, Hindu and the animist traditions of earlier periods.
(a) aesthetic, imbibed
(b) syncretic, infused
(c) hermetic, impelled
(d) emetic, infused
16. 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.
The more I thought about the vibrant___________ Scottish nationalists driving a debate north of the border about what kind of relationship it wants with England, the more I grimly ____________the fallout on this side of the border.
(a) rejuvenated, contemplated
(b) empowered, sustained
(c) imaginative, learned
(d) outspoken, ascertained
17. 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.
Any judgment by the supreme court is a definite(A)/definitive(B) one; it can't be challenged by the lower courts.
Every system of justice strives for an equitable(A)/equable(B) distribution of wealth and resources.
Metaphysics is such an esoteric(A)/exoteric(B) subject that only a handful of people can speak at length on it.
Her greatest asset was her long and luxurious(A)/luxuriant(B) hair.
(a) ABAB (b) BAAB (c) BBBB (d) AAAA
18. 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 artist uses a rich palate(A)/palette(B) of tones and timbres. It is a novel that wallows in gross sentimentality and bathos(A)/pathos(B). She was ingenuous enough to buy the meretricious(A)/meritorious(B) product from the vendor. A whopping ninety percent of the respondents unequivocably(A)/unequivocally(B) said "Yes".
(a) BAAB (b) BAAA (c) ABAB (d) BABA
19. 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.
Zero has had a long history. The Babylonians invented the concept of zero; the ancient Greeks debated it in lofty terms (how could something be nothing?); the ancient Indian scholar Pingala paired Zero with the numeral 1 to get double digits; and both the Mayans and the Romans made Zero part of their numeral systems. But Zero finally found its place around AD 498, when the Indian astronomer Aryabhatta sat up in bed one morning and exclaimed, "Sthanam sthanam dasa gunam'- which translates, roughly as, "place to place in ten times in value". With that, the idea of decimal based place value notion was born.
(a) Now Zero was on a roll.
(b) Now Zero spread to the Arab world.
(c) Zero ultimately found plenty of employment (together with the digit1).
(d) Zero ultimately flourished in Silicon valley.
20. 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.
And so I cried and I prayed, and as months passed, the ceiling above my bed slowly went back to being just a ceiling. Taking Lucette by the hand, I went back to school. There were hundreds of other children like me, children who had done nothing wrong and who, like me, had suffered some tragedy and were waiting patiently serving out their time, coping as best as they could.
(a) If they did not ask questions, it was because they knew they would not like the answers.
(b) At night, in the darkness, I brooded on my sadness.
(c)I had loved this town all my life and today, I had to leave it.
(d)The tension was palpable- the anger almost burnt the walls.
1.Ans (c) Refer to lines 9-12 where the author says Rangel, an
economist-turned-neuroscientist, is one of those
people eager to find the biological basis for human
behavior, including choice making. He and many others
have concluded that choices are made based on the
values people assign to the options they encounter.
2.Ans (a) Here the subject is most aware of the product, hence
it would send the strongest signals to the brain. (c)
and (d) will not work as the subjects can't touch or
see the product. (b) is a close option. However, the
reach afforded by a sweater displayed by a model
walking on the ramp is less as compared to the reach
afforded by a sweater displayed on a mannequin at
the store entrance.
3.Ans (c) The passage is based on experiments on human
behaviour and the results. The language and content
both are objective and based on facts.
4.Ans (b) The passage mentions Socrates' and Plato's
viewpoints. However, it doesn't venture into a
comparison of the two viewpoints. The passage starts
with an introduction of Meno's paradox and moves on
to discuss how Plato eliminates this paradox through
his theory of recollection. But it does not analyze the
theory. (d) is very general and does not correctly
bring out the specific aspects of the passage. The
author has consistently stated that the Sophistic
Paradox is illusory and goes on to prove the same.
Hence, (b) is the correct answer.
5.Ans (b) The penultimate paragraph states that Plato was
concerned more with the existence of the theory of
recollection and not even its application. The
penultimate paragraph also clearly indicates that Plato
did not aim to prove Socrates' point of view. The
immortality of the soul could be an axiom of Plato's
theory, however, this can't be surely gathered from
the passage and it is clear that this was not Plato's
main aim.
6.Ans (c) Meno's paradox questions the search for knowledge,
however, Plato eliminates this paradox through his
theory of recollection. His principal attention is placed
on the existence of this theory and though mention
has been made of the immortality of the soul and
reincarnation, these are not the main concerns of his
theory. As mentioned in the passage, the human soul
has seen everything there is to be seen, however,
this is also not the main concern of his theory of
recollection. (c) mentions that the human soul recollects
truths or knowledge – here truth has not been used
as the opposite of falsity. It has been used to indicate
something that has been experienced or gathered
through existences or births.
7.Ans (c) The Sophistic Paradox questions the search for
knowledge indicating that it is not possible to search
for knowledge. However the author also goes on to
discuss in the second paragraph that a paradox is
misleading. In the third paragraph he mentions that the
sophistic paradox is an illusion because we do acquire
knowledge. The rest of the passage is spent in
discussing Socrates' experiment with Meno's
attendant and Plato's perspective that reveals that
learning is possible and the soul recollects all that it
has learnt. (a) is not directly mentioned in the passage
and it is not the reason why the sophistic paradox is
an illusion. (b) is not indicated in the passage and (d)
is false.
8.Ans (d) Refer to para 2 lines 14-16 where the author talks
about the many things which a person misses if he
unquestioningly accepts religious dogma.
9.Ans (a) Inferential question- the author says religion teaches
a man to live the kind of life which it says will lead man
to salvation—but the focus of study( as Spinoza said)
should be life and how it should be lived. The aim of
life is not death and salvation.
10.Ans (d) The author of the passage debunks the dogmatic
approach to religion and advocates freethinking
throughout the passage. He follows a 'rationalist'
approach. The passage nowhere suggests that the
author is an atheist (one who denies the existence of
God).
11.Ans (c) Sentence B talks about an idea that was once thought
to be correct. Sentence D presents the present stream
of thought which is different from the original idea as
presented in B. Hence BD is a mandatory pair and 'but'
in D is a good clue. Sentence D is followed by sentence
A as the latter states the new observations mentioned
in sentence D. In sentence C, the clue is 'the star'
already referred to in sentence A as 'blue stars'.
Sentence E is the concluding sentence.
12.Ans (a) The strongest clue here is AE, which is a mandatory
pair. Sentence A mentions 'reform' and sentence E
refers to the same as 'the reform'. Using elimination
one can easily arrive at option (a) being the right
answer. Also, sentence C is a generalized sentence
hence it should come at the beginning of the paragraph.
CB is also a mandatory pair as 'them' in sentence B
refers to 'revolutions' in sentence C.
13.Ans (c) (a) Ease back- move slowly or with less commitment
(b) Ease off-become less severe or intense.
Option (c) is wrong. The expression should be "eased
off". "Eased in" means to move in gently and carefullyyou
ease in behind the wheel of a car.
(d)Ease up means (here) become less pressing or
urgent.
(e)Ease off means (informally) do something less
intensely.
14.Ans (b) Chipped away means to make weak gradually.
Chipped off is wrong. Chipped away, which means to
break small pieces off something, is the correct
expression.
15.Ans (b) Syncretic means uniting and blending together
different systems, as of philosophy, morals, or religion.
16.Ans (a) The sentence discusses the author's contemplation
of the effects of the debate that is being driven by the
Scottish nationalists. Keeping this context in mind, the
second blank can be filled only by 'contemplated'.
Hence, (a) is the right answer.
17.Ans (b) Definitive (of a conclusion or agreement) means
decisive and with an authority. Equitable means just or
fair or marked by principles of fairness or equity.
Esoteric means secret or known only to a few people.
Luxuriant means growing in abundance.
18.Ans (a) Palette-a range, quality or use of available
elements.(palette is also the name of an artist's mixing
board). Bathos-insincere pathos; sentimentality;
mawkishness. Meretricious-flashy, gaudy, spurious.
Unequivocally means clearly and without doubt.
19.Ans (a) The paragraph discusses the history of zero and how
it came into use. Once the idea of decimal based place
value came into existence, zero became popular. It
was on a roll. Hence option (a) is correct. (c), which
is a close option, can't be the answer as the pairing of
zero with the numeral 1 gets discussed in the second
line of the paragraph.
20.Ans (a) The last sentence of the paragraph is about how,
apart from the author, there were 'hundreds of other
children', who were going through the same ordeal.
Their approach to the ordeal was one of patience.
They were coping with it as best as they could. In
such a context option (a), which describes the children
silently accepting their fate and not asking any
questions comes across as the best answer. Also,
the 'they' in this option has an antecedent in the
'children'.
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