Top 100 CAT Verbal Ability Questions with Answers

Cracking the Verbal Ability section of the CAT exam can be challenging, but practice makes perfect. To help you boost your skills and confidence, we’ve compiled the top 100 CAT Verbal Ability questions with answers – covering reading comprehension, para jumbles, grammar, vocabulary, and more. Whether you’re aiming for accuracy or speed, these carefully selected questions will give you the edge you need to excel.

CAT Verbal Ability Questions

Question 1:

Directions: The sentences given in the following question, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph.
Choose the most logical order of sentences that constructs a coherent paragraph and mark the correct sequence in the box provided below

(a) One of the basic methods of addressing this problem is to present classifications that facilitate its formulation and study.
(b) Paradoxes are a relatively frequent occurrence in physics.
(c) The nature of their genesis is diverse and they are found in all branches of physics.
(d) Nowadays, physics is a fundamental and rather formalized science, the paradoxes of which imply falsity.
(e) Though there are many classifications of paradoxes, there is no classification of theirs in physics.

[ANS] bceda

Question 2:

(a) The methodology of this process evolves from receiving simple code instructions to more complex real-time computations.
(b) IOT holds a meaning so vast for it to be termed a marketing gimmick than a technology.
(c) Next thing we know, Internet Of Things (IOT) took the world by storm as we entered the 20th century.
(d) Earlier what was once called ‘Machine-to-Machine was merely an idea.
(e) There is a misconception that IOT is an app to switch things on or just a system of computer devices.

[ANS] dcbae

Question 3:

(a) This happened because the Al agents were competing in a “generative adversarial network” to develop efficient methods of conversation.
(b) A mistake in programming no reward system was created for sticking to the English language-led the Al agents to put out gibberish that other Al agents could understand, but made no semantic sense to humans.
(c) Facebook, foxed by its Al developing a new language that the human researchers who created it couldn’t understand, shut down the Al agents themselves.
(d) It allowed Al agents to disobey rules of the understandable language and invent code-words.
(e) The advanced system can be used to negotiate with other Al agents for completing the task at hand.

[ANS] cbaed

Question 4:

Directions: The following questions presents 5 statements of which 4, when placed in appropriate order, would form a contextually complete paragraph. Pick the statement that is not part of that context and mark the number corresponding with it in the box provided below

(a) During one of the shows, the curtain pullers, who were asleep, were awakened by a shrill whistle, and hurriedly brought down the curtain in the middle of a seene.
(b) A young and very pretty dancer named Pawala, from the Mahar community, was besotted by the Brahmin Bapurao’s singing and poetry.
(c) For performances at theatres like Victoria, Rippon and Baliwala, drama companies used to bring their own curtain, which would be operated by two men.
(d) It was only later that they discovered the whistle came from the street outside.
(e) The curtain pullers often dozed off, and the cue to bring down the curtain was the shrill blast of a whistle.

[ANS] b

Question 5:

(a) With her whispering words, soft light, and hand-holding, she was TV’s part-therapist, part-soul sister.
(b) She was rarely irreverent or catty.
(c) Simi Garewal is India’s Oprah Winfrey in white.
(d) Neither her hair nor her words were ever out of place.
(e) The stars, however, know that she would never joke about them behind their back or say an unkind word.

[ANS] e

Question 6:

Directions: Four alternative summaries are given below each text. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the text.

Cardiologists preparing to perform life-saving heart valve replacements can now use customizable 3D-printed models of the organ to assist them with the surgeries. Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology and the Piedmont Heart Institute are using standard medical imaging and new 3D printing technologies to create patient-specific heart valve models that mimic the physiological qualities of the real valves. The aim is to improve the success rate of transcatheter aortic valve replacements (TAVR) by picking the right prosthetic and avoiding a common complication known as paravalvular leakage. Paravalvular leakage is an extremely important indicator in how well the patient will do long term.

(a) 3D-printed models of heart valves developed by researchers and aimed at improving the success rate of transcatheter aortic valve replacements, are bound to be of immense help to cardiologists.
(b) 3D-printed valves developed by researchers have the potential to make a huge impact on patient care as they can improve the success rate of transcatheter aortic valve replacements.
(c) New 3D technologies that assist cardiologists with life-saving heart replacement surgeries, and simultaneously avoid paravalvular leakage have been developed by researchers at Georgia and Piedmont.
(d) Cardiologists can now use 3D printing technologies that aim at improving the success rate of transcatheter aortic valve replacements, and avoiding paravalvular leakage, an important indicator of how well the patient will do long term.

[ANS] d

Question 7:

Directions: Four alternative summaries are given below each text. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the text.

The National Health Policy (NHP), 2017, is long on banalities and short on specifics. In a somewhat glaring omission, little has been said about the rapid rise in the share of the old-i.c., 60 years or more and associated morbidities, especially sharply rising non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and disabilities. In the context of declining family support and severely limited old-age income security, catastrophic consequences for destitutes afflicted with these conditions cannot be ruled out. Besides, failure to anticipate these demographic and epidemiological shifts from infectious diseases to NCDs may result in enormously costlier policy challenges.

(a) While the National Health Policy says little about the rising number of senior citizens and associated morbidities, made worse by declining family support and limited income security, fluctuations in the overall morbidity state may result in enormously costlier policy challenges.
(b) It is ridiculous that the National Health Policy speaks little about the rapid increase in the share of the old, and morbidities and disabilities affecting the aged, who are left to fend for themselves.
(c) While it sounds strange that the National Health Policy speaks little about the rapid rise in the share of the old and associated morbidities, it may be appreciated that fluctuations in the overall morbidity state may result in enormously costlier policy challenges.
(d) Notwithstanding the loss to the exchequer, health policies and programmes for the benefit of the aged, who remain neglected by their families, need to be formulated and implemented on priority.

[ANS] a

Question 8:

Directions: The following question has a paragraph from which the last sentence has been deleted. From the given options, select the one that completes the paragraph in the most appropriate way:

With every passing year, it is becoming increasingly clear that power shortage in India is unlikely to disappear any time soon. The shortage has gone on mounting as the demand for electricity has kept on growing, while capacity expansion has fallen short of targets: both in the ninth and tenth plans, the capacity additions in the power sector were just about half the targets. It is unlikely that the ambitious target of 90,000 MW can be reached in the eleventh plan (2007-12). Does it mean, therefore, that electricity consumers should learn to live with scarcity and regular load shedding? ________________

(a) It is high time we started looking for options that would keep the situation from going out of hand.
(b) Maharashtra Electricity Regulation Commission has proposed a franchisee model based on the principle of distributed generation to cater to the needs of urban agglomerations and industrial areas.
(c) Some innovation and bold approach is possible to manage power shortages.
(d) In today’s changed context, throwing one’s hands up in helplessness is not the answer.

[ANS] a

Question 9:

Directions: The sentences given in each of the following questions, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Each sentence is indicated with a number. Choose the most logical order of sentences that constructs a coherent paragraph and mark the correct sequence in the box provided below each question.

(a) Of course, they have not made the blunders that some others have made, but neither did they grow.
(b) The chief executive had done an excellent job in welding a group of motley and successful companies into one profitable company
(c) It is not surprising that the company had been sitting on a cash hoard of about $24 billion years after years without any attempt to use it for growth or development. Justify that DABC is the most appropriate arrangement of the sentences (d) The chief executive of the General Electric Company in England once told me that he was very happy when there were no problems in any of his many divisions.

[ANS] cdab

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Question 10:

(a) Hannibal did not let that keep him from believing that he could win and then acting on that belief.
(b) In 220 BC a war started between Rome and Carthage.
(c) Hannibal’s troops were greatly outnumbered and had fewer weapons and supplies than the great Roman Army.
(d) Hannibal was from the city of Carthage, whose arch enemies were the Romans.

[ANS] dacb

Question 11:

Directions: Five jumbled up sentences, related to a topic, are given below. Four of them. can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd one out and key in the number of the sentence as your answer.

(a) The gradual disappearance of Coptic as a spoken language in Egypt following the rise of Arabic in the 7th century is one example of this type of transition.
(b) In El Salvador speakers of the indigenous Lenca and Cacaopera abandoned their languages to avoid being identified as Indians after a massacre in 1932 by Salvadoran troops.
(c) Most languages, though, die out gradually as successive generations of speakers become bilingual and then begin to lose proficiency in their traditional languages.
(d) And yet languages have come and gone throughout human history, and they continue to do so.
(e) Sometimes languages die out quickly when small communities of speakers are wiped out by disasters or war.

[ANS] d

Question 12:

(a) The tragic events at Altamont, held just months later, were immortalized in the Albert and David Maysles documentary Gimme Shelter.
(b) Music festivals loom large in rock history, but it took organizers several decades to iron out the kinks.
(c) Many festivals pride themselves on the diversity of their line-ups, but few can approach the dizzying variety that can be found at Roskilde, the largest festival in northern Europe.
(d) Since then, festivals have gone mainstream, with family-friendly fare and corporate sponsorships replacing warnings about ‘brown acid’ and ‘bad trip.
(e) Woodstock gave its name to a generation, but the concert itself was a debacle that nearly bankrupted its promoters.

[ANS] c

Question 13:

(a) More than that, it often makes financial sense to send workers around the world: every dollar spent on business travel is known to result in $1(b)50 in incremental revenue.
(b) While Zoom might replicate much of the experience of an in-person chat, for many businesspeople there’s nothing quite like seeing clients in person.
(c) Even a simple handshake helps us to create bonds: a 2008 study found that the gesture helped release oxytocin in the brain, in turn building trust between strangers.
(d) Building relationships, hashing out the finer details of a sensitive deal or understanding how a business works from the inside become much easier in person.

[ANS] bdca

Question 14:

(a) Popularized in the 1990s by Robert Putnam, social capital refers to the features of social organizations that facilitate action and cooperation for mutual benefit.
(b) The COVID-19 pandemic has damaged the stock of physical and human capital.
(c) The crisis has at the same time boosted the oft-overlooked variable of social capital, elevating its role as a key source of economic growth.
(d) Firms have postponed or cancelled investment projects, and laid-off or furloughed workers’ skills have deteriorated.

[ANS] bcad

Question 15:

Directions: The passage given below is followed by four alternative summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

Understanding economics does not require faith, but there are actions undertaken by market actors themselves that require faith. Everyone who is in business understands this. It requires a thousand daily acts of seeing the unseen future to be in business. The reality of the marketplace is that the consuming public can shut you down tomorrow. All they need to do is to fail to show up and buy. This is true for the smallest business to the largest. There is no certainty in any business. Nothing is a sure thing. Every business in a market economy is only a short step from bankruptcy. No business possesses the power to make people buy what they do not want. All success is potentially fleeting.

(a) For the smallest to the largest of businesses, the reality of the marketplace is that success in potentially fleeting if the buyers just fail to show up and buy.
(b) The actions undertaken by market actors in a market economy are based on faith as every business can be shut down by consumers if they just fail to show up and buy..
(c) The reality of the marketplace is that every business, however small or big, is a step away from bankruptcy as they cannot make people buy what they do not want.
(d) While understanding economics does not need faith, it requires faith to succeed in a business by seeing an unseen future where consumers may just fail to show up and buy.

[ANS] b

Question 16:

Directions: The passage given below is followed by four alternative summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

Which is the country’s Most Persecuted Minority? No, you’re wrong. And it’s not Big Business either; one of Ayn Rand’s more ludicrous pronouncements. I refer, of course, to that once proud race, tobacco-smokers, a group once revered and envied, but now there are none so poor as to do them reverence, So low has this group sunk in the public esteem that, in rushing to their defense. I am obliged to point out that I myself am not and never have been a smoker. Can you imagine having to put in such a disclaimer against special pleading in behalf of the rights of blacks, Jews, or gays against oppression? The crusade against smoking is only the currently most virulent example of one of the most malignant forces in American life: neo-Puritanism. Puritanism was famously defined by the favourite writer, H.L.. Mencken, as “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” The major problem with the Puritans is not so much that they were a dour lot, but that they were believers in the dangerous heresy that it is man’s responsibility to establish a perfect society free of sin. But establishing a sin-free society, of course, means taking stern measures to get rid of smokers, which is where the rub comes in.

(a) Tobacco smokers have sunk so low in public esteem that in order to establish a perfect society, the American neo-Puritans are eliminating smokers, making them on par with blacks, Jews and gays.
(b) Neo-puritanism currently the most malignant force in American society giving in to the heresy that it is man’s responsibility to establish a perfect society, has started a crusade against smokers, making smokers the most persecuted group in America.
(c) The campaign against smoking by neo-Puritanism, which assumes that it is man’s responsibility to establish a perfectionistic society, has made them the most malignant forces in American life.
(d) The efforts to get rid of smokers by the neo-Puritans who believe that smoking is a sin and that it is man’s duty to establish a sin-free society, has made smokers one of the most persecuted minorities in America.

[ANS] d

Question 17:

Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a meaningful and coherent short paragraph. Identify the odd one out. Choose its number as your answer and key it in.

(a) In the wake of this discovery, serum therapy became, until the invention of antibiotics, the main way of treating diphtheria, tetanus, scarlet fever and meningitis,
(b) The first Nobel prize in medicine, awarded in 1901, went to Emil von Behring for discovering how to employ antitoxins to treat diphtheria.
(c) Evolution being what it is, bacteria will no doubt find ways around antibodies, as they have with antibiotics.
(d) He found that he could transfer them from infected horses to sick people by injecting those people with horse-blood serum.
(e) It is still employed for neutralizing snake venom and albeit experimentally for treating Ebola fever.

[ANS] c

Question 18:

(a) This year’s contest includes a robotic garden, too: students at the University of Colorado are developing a workable prototype “bioregenerative food system,” which they’ll deliver to NASA next summer.
(b) Stored food represents the largest expected non-propulsion consumable mass for human spaceflight.
(c) The designs often focus on space-worthy structural scaffolds, detailing vertical or horizontal building layouts that could survive the harsh environment on Mars or the moon.
(d) The completed project will be able to grow, harvest and compost a variety of plants which astronauts can cultivate for food.
(e) NASA’s yearly X-Hab competition invites university teams to design deep space habitats and concepts that could someday be used by real astronauts.

[ANS] b

Question 19:

Direction: The passage given below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures the author’s position. Key in your answer by using the virtual keyboard given below.

Computers process information numbers, letters, words, formulas, images. Your brain does not process information, retrieve knowledge, or store memories. In short, your brain is not a computer. However, the information processing (IP) metaphor of human intelligence now dominates human thinking, both on the street and in the sciences. There is virtually no form of discourse about intelligent human behaviour that proceeds without employing this metaphor, just as no form of discourse about intelligent human behaviour could proceed in certain eras and cultures without reference to a spirit or deity. The validity of the IP metaphor in today’s world is generally assumed without question.

(a) The Information Processing (IP) metaphor has become an unquestioned way to understand human intelligence on the street and in the sciences.
(b) Applying the information processing (IP) metaphor to human intelligence is a current norm that does not find precedence in previous eras or cultures.
(c) It is universally accepted that information processing (IP) as a metaphor helps us understand human intelligence and behaviour.
(d) The Information Processing (IP) metaphor as a generally accepted way to understand human intelligence is fundamentally flawed.

[ANS] d

Question 20:

Direction: The passage given below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures the author’s position. Key in your answer by using the virtual keyboard given below.

An experimental study in Uganda found that providing financial capital, while effective for men, does not have any impact on female-owned enterprise profits. Similarly, a randomized control trial on Tanzania’s Business Women Connect program found that while the mobile savings program substantially increased savings, it did not have an effect on female-owned enterprise profits or sales even when combined with hard business skills, such as business management, basic profitability concepts, and record-keeping. Both studies, however, show that loans paired with business trainings as well as improved access to mobile savings accounts had a positive impact on male-owned microenterprise profits or sales.

(a) Studies out of Africa show that women entrepreneurs are in need of business training along with loans, in contrast to male entrepreneurs, who are positively affected by both.
(b) Studies show that loans and business trainings positively impact profits for males but do not similarly affect profits for female entrepreneurs.
(c) A successful women’s economic empowerment intervention needs more than just access to financial capital and hard business skills.
(d) Experimental studies out of Africa show that female entrepreneurs find it harder to turn financial capital assistance and trainings into profits or sales.

[ANS] b

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Question 21:

Direction: The following questions have a paragraph from which the last sentence has been deleted. From the given options, choose the one that completes the paragraph in the most appropriate way.

“Women hold up half the sky,” Mao Zedong used to say. They also hold up 41% of China’s GDP, the biggest In Japan the share in the Asia-Pacific, says a new report by the McKinsey Global Institute. percentage of women in the labour force has increased quickly in the past ten years; in the Philippines, 142 women hold professional or technical jobs for every 100 men; China boasts 114 of the world’s 147 female, self-made billionaires. ___________

(a) China could add 13% to its GDP by 2025 if it increased women’s employment and productivity as quickly as the leading countries in its region or peer group.
(b) But economic progress and female employment do not necessarily move in tandem.
(c) It also finds quite impressive signs of progress in many countries.
(d) Some of their chores may be left undone or be left to men.

[ANS] c

Question 22:

Direction: The following questions have a paragraph from which the last sentence has been deleted. From the given options, choose the one that completes the paragraph in the most appropriate way.

Whether waiting for a bus, playing outside, or walking the dog during the colder winter season, everyone is looking for ways to stay warm. Luckily, the process your body uses to break down food serves as an internal heater. But when the weather is cold, some defensive strategies are also necessary to prevent your body from losing its heat to the surrounding environment. As the temperature difference between your warm body and Its frigid surroundings increases, heat is lost more quickly _______________

(a) It becomes more of a challenge to maintain a normal body temperature.
(b) The most common thing people do to stay warm is to wear a coat, hat, and gloves. Obviously increasing clothing thickness or piling on the layers helps.
(c) Winter is more about your psychological responses. The more you think the more you suffer.
(d) Differences in body size, body fatness, and metabolic activity influence how different individuals experience cold.

[ANS] a

Question 23:

Directions: Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a meaningful and coherent short paragraph. Identify the odd one out.

(a) There was a time in our country when prejudice was not allowed to blatantly declare itself.
(b) We hear far more strident voices against reservation, against allowing communities to eat what they want, against norms of behaviour of women and such voices are getting normalised and have become part of our public gossip.
(c) There was a time when there was something that was shameful about publicly stating one’s prejudices.
(d) Repeatedly, we hear statements about caste, religion, the poor and the marginalised, in public domains and in public conversations as if they are matters of fact and not fictions of prejudice.
(e) The prejudices inherent in our media are compounded by those inherent in our education system.

[ANS] e

Question 24:

Directions: Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a meaningful and coherent short paragraph. Identify the odd one out.

(a) The honest answer is in the negative as the approaches of India and China towards Africa are essentially different.
(b) This was reflected in deliberations at the annual meeting of the African Development Bank (AfDB) recently.
(c) The AfDB’s decision to hold its meeting here in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, demonstrated its confidence in recent achievements and future prospects of the Indian economy.
(d) India-Africa engagement is getting stronger with the active involvement of political and business leaders of both sides..
(e) AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina called India “a developing beacon for the rest of the world”, adding that the time was right for India and Africa to forge “winning partnerships”.

[ANS] a

Question 25:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: These minerals are used in defence technology, smartphones, electric vehicles and even medical devices.

Global demand for critical minerals found in seabed areas—like nickel, cobalt, manganese and lithium—are on the rise. (1) Currently, these minerals are most commonly mined in Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa and Australia, respectively. (2) Many of these sites have been accused in recent years of committing a variety of human rights and labour abuses. (3) Concerns about the longtime viability of such mines are also leading companies to look for minerals elsewhere. (4)

[ANS] 4

Question 26:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: The debate surrounding deep-sea mining represents an interesting tension, as the minerals it produces help power many of the technologies that countries need to achieve sustainability goals such as reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

(1) The Trump administration announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management would begin to fast-track the development of deep-sea mining projects. (2) The move follows an executive order President Donald Trump released in late April calling for the expedition of domestic and international deep-sea mining projects as a means of “strengthening our economy, securing our energy future and reducing dependence on foreign suppliers for critical minerals.” (3) Yet, many environmental scientists are wary of how the process might harm the deep-sea ecosystem, an area of the world that we still know very little about. (4) Current estimates say that less than 0.001 percent of Earth’s deep seafloor has been explored.

[ANS] 3

Question 27:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: There is also a high degree of endemism, which just means that the organisms are really highly specific to live in that particular area.

Scientists are still unsure about deep-sea mining’s potential impacts on creatures that call the seafloor home. (1) But from what they have been able to uncover, many predict that mining will have an incredibly negative-if not irreversible-effect on this unique ecosystem. (2) Research suggests that whenever we are going to be mining in the deep-sea, we are going to be disturbing very slow-growing types of habitats. (3) Any sort of ecosystem recovery will likely be extremely slow, or simply won’t happen at all, because the deep sea’s unique habitat conditions would be so disrupted. (4)

[ANS] 3

Question 28:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: Researchers are also learning that cancers develop along remarkably similar pathways in the two species.

Studying dogs and their cancers turns out to be an excellent way to learn more about cancer in people. (1) And it’s not just that dogs and owners share exposures to many of the same environmental carcinogens. (2) The faster pace at which canine cancers progress also means that researchers testing new therapies can get quicker results than they can in human clinical trials. (3) This benefits scientists, dogs and their owners, proponents say. (4)

[ANS] 2

Question 29:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: A baby turtle wiggles and grins as its belly is scratched with a toothbrush, a polar bear delicately pets and cuddles a husky, a hamster freezes and flops on its back when its owner shoots finger guns.

The internet, as everyone knows, was made for cat videos. With social media, it has branched out. (1) Pictures and videos of all sorts of animals regularly go viral these days. (2) Part of the reason they go viral is simply that animals are cute. (3) But people also connect with the apparent joy of a turtle getting its belly rubbed, or the apparent friendship of bear and dog together, and the apparent playfulness of the hamster. (4)

[ANS] 2

Question 30:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: Anthropomorphism takes many forms.

(1) We anthropomorphise animal cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse or Bluey when we draw them standing upright with human arms and vaguely human faces. (2) We anthropomorphise forces of nature when we depict them as spirits or deities in folklore. (3) We anthropomorphise our pets when we have conversations with them about our day. (4) This can be playful or serious, and may or may not be taken literally.

[ANS] 1

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Question 31:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: In the process of gaining recognition, xenolinguistics appears to be moving away from the tradition that enabled it.

(1) Science and science fiction have interrogated the notion of extraterrestrial language in tandem, spawning a tangled web of theories and stories, theories about stories, stories about theories, and theories about theories in stories, while prompting many further attempts to communicate with alien beings. (2) This historical interplay has recently culminated in a new wave of interest in the study of alien language, a field known as xenolinguistics (and sometimes exolinguistics or astrolinguistics). (3) But rather than aligning with sci-fi, this aspiring science marks a break with its past. (4) The problem is that the extraterrestrials that xenolinguists claim to seek are often beings imagined to have technologies, minds or languages similar to ours.

[ANS] 4

Question 32:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: Pressing questions about the distribution of consciousness arise even within our own species.

Although questions about consciousness in assembloids and AI systems are novel, they are instances of a more general question that is as old as the study of consciousness itself: what kinds of entities have the capacity for consciousness? (1) It’s now generally accepted that mammals and birds are capable of consciousness, but there is little consensus about consciousness in fish, reptiles, amphibians, cephalopods or insects. (2) For example, there are long-standing debates about whether consciousness might be present from (or even before) birth, or whether it arises only weeks, perhaps even months, after birth. (3) Most discussion of the distribution problem has focused on how we might identify consciousness in systems that are very different from ‘us’. (4)

[ANS] 2

Question 33:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: It’s clear, however, that debates about the distribution of consciousness aren’t about wakefulness.

Like many natural language terms, ‘consciousness’ is polysemous, having multiple meanings. (1) In one sense of the term, ‘consciousness’ is a synonym for wakefulness. (2) When a computer scientist claims that AI systems are already conscious, he surely isn’t suggesting that they are awake; conversely, those who reject the possibility of neonatal consciousness don’t deny the obvious fact that neonates undergo periods of wakefulness. (3) But if the distribution problem isn’t about wakefulness, what is it about? (4)

[ANS] 2

Question 34:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: We might call this the manifest understanding of consciousness, for it holds that pointing to examples of consciousness makes manifest its very nature.

(1) One widely held view is that attending to examples of conscious experience enables one to grasp its essence. (2) The idea here is not that we can tell whether something is conscious merely by attending to our own experiences. Rather, the idea is that attending to our own experiences enables us to grasp the concept of consciousness, and grasping the concept of consciousness in turn reveals what it is to be conscious. (3) As a parallel, consider what is involved in grasping the concept of triangularity: if you’ve grasped the concept of a triangle, then you know what it is to be a triangle.(4)

[ANS] 4

Question 35:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: This tolerant attitude toward figurative art was also the outcome of new developments in publishing and photography, as well as the revolutionary establishment of a local film industry.

(1) At the dawn of the twentieth century, Egyptians, burdened with centuries of foreign occupation, were united in their aspiration for a modern nation. Thus, modern art was an essential visual expression of their national identity and freedom from foreign oppression. (2) It was a manifestation of the contemporaneous intellectual discourse led by secular liberals, among them writers, poets, and artists, male and female. (3) The acceptance of figuration and the introduction of art education in schools were sanctioned by religious scholars. (4) Egypt led the Arab world in these fields, although it took a full century before photography was officially recognized as an art form.

[ANS] 4

Question 36:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: This version on this page shows summer temperatures going back to the mid-19^th century for the land areas of the Northern Hemisphere, relative to the average for 1971-2000.

In a world without human-caused climate change, we would expect to see records set fairly randomly, following the whims of our planet’s natural variations in climate. But global warming has effectively loaded the dice, with record heat outpacing record cold. (1) This imbalance is starkly evident in the famous “warming stripes” graphics created by climate scientist Ed Hawkins of the University of Reading in England. These graphics render each year’s average temperature as a shade of red or blue, depending upon how much above or below the the long-term average it is. (2) Although there is the odd pink or orange year scattered throughout the record, the pileup of deep red bars in the recent decades immediately jumps out. (3) Even 1998- which at the time was far and away the hottest summer (and year) on record because of an exceptionally strong El Nino event- has been far surpassed. (4) Similarly, the 1900s were supplanted as the hottest decade by the 2000s, which were then replaced by the 2010s. The 2020s will eventually follow suit.

[ANS] 2

Question 37:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: However, ultrastructural studies in the 1970s and subsequent molecular phylogenetics in the late 20th century revealed that acellular slime moulds actually belong to the Amoebozoa, a group of unicellular protists more closely related to amoebae than to fungi

(1) For much of its scientific history, Physarum was misclassified as a fungus, primarily due to its ability to produce spores within stalked fruiting bodies, similar to the spore-producing structures of fungi. (2) Its species name polycephalum, literally meaning many-headed, refers to the multiple spore-holding structures (sporangia) of its fruiting body, which superficially resemble tiny heads. (3) Scientific interest in Physarum surged in the 1970s and ’80s, with labs across Europe, the Americas and Japan investigating its behaviour. However, by the late 20th century, research had declined. (4)

[ANS] 3

Question 38:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: The absence of the cathedral above her was a testament to the Soviet state’s ‘ideological triumph’ over the past.

My mother swam in this pool as a child in the early 1980s, basking in its steaming waters while snow fell around her and passers-by. (1) Decades later, however, the pool was drained, the land consecrated once more, and the cathedral rebuilt, signalling changing times and ideologies. (2) Today, walking past the cathedral, you’d be hard-pressed to find any mention of its former life as a swimming pool. (3) Yet, as the Russian proverb goes, cвято место пусто не бывает – a sacred space is never empty. (4)

[ANS] 1

Question 39:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: For people who had never experienced the ‘original’ by visiting the countries represented, these pavilions became their primary frame of reference.

Across the world and throughout time, structures have been deliberately erased and later resurrected as replicas – often as a nod to new (or resurgent) political and ideological undercurrents. (1) St Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv was demolished by Soviet authorities in the 1930s but then rebuilt in the 1990s as an assertion of Ukrainian identity. (2) Stari Most, the old bridge over the Neretva Riverin Bosnia and Herzegovina, was destroyed during the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s and rebuilt using stones from the original 16th-century Ottoman bridge as a symbol of multi-ethnic unity. (3) But at some point, the replica becomes the ‘original’. (4)

[ANS] 4

Question 40:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: These norms vary by culture.

Awkward silences are conversational silences: they arise during conversation, and they are potentially awkward if they happen when someone should be speaking. (1) I don’t feel awkward about my current silence because I’m not engaged in conversation. If I were, my silence probably would feel awkward. To understand why, we can look to the idea that awkward silences happen when someone should be speaking. (2) This ‘should’ relates to conversational norms. (3) When we converse, we’re (usually subconsciously) following norms around things like how long our pauses are allowed to be, whose turn it is to speak, and what topics are appropriate. (4) A researcher observes that silences that are comfortable for Japanese speakers feel ‘unbearably long’ to American speakers.

[ANS] 4

Question 41:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: If it were not for this earthquake, we would know more about a fascinating imbroglio that involved philosophy, politics and gender that happened in the 1580s and involved the city’s foremost noble families.

On 6 April 1667, a powerful earthquake devastated Dubrovnik, claiming at least 3,000 lives and destroying most of the city’s buildings. (1) The disaster not only marked a turning point in the city’s urban and political history but also inflicted a deep scar on its intellectual heritage. (2) Nevertheless, it’s still possible to piece together parts of the jigsaw from what has survived. (3)What emerges reveals two remarkable women who dared to challenge the patriarchy using philosophical arguments in an age when such attempts could be counted on one hand. (4)

[ANS] 2

Question 42:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: In the 15th century, Dubrovnik became one of Venice’s main rivals, leveraging its exceptional diplomacy and trade networks to compete with the Venetian Republic, while maintaining independence through skilful negotiation with both Western and Eastern powers, including the Ottoman Empire.

(1) During the Renaissance, Dubrovnik emerged as a vital meeting point between East and West, uniquely blending Western Christian and Eastern Byzantine, and later Ottoman, influences in its culture, politics and trade. (2) Its strategic location on the Adriatic made it the most important port of the Eastern Adriatic and a key mercantile and diplomatic intermediary between the Balkan hinterland and the Mediterranean world. (3) In the sun-drenched marble streets of late 16th-century Dubrovnik, an extraordinary intellectual rebellion was quietly unfolding. (4) At its centre was Maruša Gundulić aka Maria Gondola(c1557-post 1599), a noblewoman whose writings defied the rigid gender norms of her time.

[ANS] 3

Question 43:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: This is how Buddhism becomes, in the popular imagination, a doctrine of passivity and even laziness, while Existentialism becomes synonymous with apathy and futile despair.

We do this to our philosophies. (1) We redraft their contours based on projected shadows, or give them a cartoonish shape like a caricaturist emphasising all the wrong features. (2) Something similar has happened to Stoicism, which is considered – when considered at all – a philosophy of grim endurance, of carrying on rather than getting over, of tolerating rather than transcending life’s agonies and adversities. (3) No wonder the Stoic sage, in Western culture, has never obtained the popularity of the Zen master. (4) Even though Stoicism is far more accessible, not only does it lack the exotic mystique of Eastern practice; it’s also regarded as a philosophy of merely breaking even while remaining determinedly impassive. (5)

[ANS] 2

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Question 44:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

Sentence: And they’ve believed that, even if it sucks, a job gives meaning, purpose and structure to our everyday lives – at any rate, we’re pretty sure that it gets us out of bed, pays the bills, makes us feel responsible, and keeps us away from daytime TV.

Work means everything to Americans. (1) For centuries they have believed that it builds character. (2) They’ve also believed that the market in labour, where we go to find work, has been relatively efficient in allocating opportunities and incomes. (3) These beliefs have become ridiculous now because there’s not enough work to go around, and what there is of it won’t pay the bills – unless of course you’ve landed a job as a drug dealer or a Wall Street banker, becoming a gangster either way. (4) These days, everybody addresses this breakdown of the labour market by advocating ‘full employment’, as if having a job is self-evidently a good thing, no matter how dangerous, demanding or demeaning it is.

[ANS] 4

Question 45:

When it comes to immigration, not all foreigners are the same. The treatment of non-citizen legal residents, for example, raises very different moral and political questions from the larger debate about who should, and who should not, be allowed to enter. Through the state’s official procedures, it has entered an agreement with the non-citizen, an agreement that brings obligations and limitations on the conduct of both parties. A state that, without due process, simply ignores the rights and obligations it has extended to that legal resident makes a serious breach of its moral authority and the rule of law. This is what the state’s treatment of its non-citizen legal residents- its visa holders and permanent resident aliens- can say as much about its health as its treatment of citizens.

Which of the following best summarises the given paragraph?

(a) The authenticity of the moral authority and the rule of law of all states when legal resident rights to the non-citizens can be challenged after analysing the treatment the state renders in the form of rights and obligations to its non-citizens.
(b) The veracity of the moral authority and the rule of law of any state when it grants legal resident rights to the non-citizens can be ascertained after analysing the statement the state renders in the form of rights and obligations to its citizen by birth.
(c) The veracity of the moral authority and the rule of law of any state when it grants legal resident privileges and honours to the non-citizens can be ascertained after analysing the treatment the state renders in the form of rights and obligations to its citizen by birth.
(d) The veracity of the moral authority and the rule of law of any state when it grants legal resident rights to the non-citizens can be accurately ascertained after analysing the treatment the state renders in the form of rights and obligations to its citizens by birth.

[ANS] a

Question 46:

Aristotle provides one way of thinking through how fiction can provide ethical insights, and argues that tragic drama is more ‘philosophical and more serious than history’, as it speaks of universals, while history speaks only of particulars. History will tell us what happened, but this is often unsatisfying and random. Lives as we live them, and events as they unfold, often do not make sense – but it is precisely this kind of sense-making and feeling of necessity that makes stories resonate universally, and this comes from rational construction. Dramatists and novelists tend to condense and leave out elements that are irrelevant to the kind of stories they want to tell.

Which of the following best captures the essence of the given paragraph?

(a) According to Aristotle, fiction, unlike history, provides ethical insights by speaking of universals rather than of particulars; thus, tragic drama is more philosophical and serious than history.
(b) Aristotle argues that fiction is always a notch above history on account of the former’s capacity to enrich the readers’ psyche by providing ethical insights.
(c) Dramatists put more effort into emphasising the moral of a story even if this involves leaving out the irrelevant facts, unlike historians who staunchly represent facts as they are.
(d) History speaks about particular aspects, like fiction, which possesses a differential quality, and it is on these grounds that Aristotle calls fiction more philosophical than history.

[ANS] a

Question 47:

The breeding and brooding habits of the Fiordland crested penguins have been difficult to study because they live in the temperate rainforest. The nesting areas are difficult to see because of the thick vegetation where the nests are located. The total population has been estimated to be fewer than 1,000 breeding pairs. Fiordland penguins make their nest in the soft ground in the thick undergrowth of plants well apart from other birds’ nests. Usually, two eggs are laid but only one chick survives. The egg is kept warm for 30 to 36 days, with the male and the female taking turns on the nest in long 5 to 12 day shifts. After the eggs hatch, the male stays with the chick for 2 to 3 weeks, while the female brings food. Chicks are left alone to hide in the underbrush or they may form small crèches while both parents hunt food. Chicks get their adult feathers and go to sea in about 75 days. The Fiordland penguins are shy and timid and live and breed on the rugged west and southwest coastlands of the South Island of New Zealand, including two offshore islands of Stewart and Solander.

(a) The Fiordland penguins, believed to be fewer than 1000 breeding pairs, breed on coastlands of the South Island of New Zealand. Both parents take turns at brooding, for about a month. Hatched chicks are looked after by the male parents for about three weeks, while the females bring food. Thereafter both parents may forage, leaving the chicks in groups or in nests in the soft ground in the thick underbrush of the temperate rainforests. In about seventy five days, the chicks are grown enough to go to sea. (Answer)
(b) Fewer than 1000 breeding pairs of the Fiordland penguins are found on coastlands of South Island of New Zealand. The nests are in soft ground in the thick underbrush of the temperate rainforests. The Fiordland penguins take 30 to 36 days to hatch. The male stays on in the nest to keep the eggs warm. The female brings food for the chicks. The chick is abandoned in a crèche after 3 weeks and goes to sea in 75 days.
(c) Fiordland penguins hatch in a nest made in the soft ground in the thick undergrowth of plants near the coastlands of South Island of New Zealand. The male and female penguins take turns hatching one of the two eggs laid initially. Once the eggs hatch, the male leaves to take care of the feeding needs of the chick. The chick learns to become independent after 3 weeks of life and takes to the oceans in 75 days.
(d) Fiordland penguins are natives of New Zealand. The penguins take 30 to 36 days to hatch. The male and female penguins take turns to keep the eggs warm for 5 to 12 hours a day. One of the two eggs hatch. The female brings the food to the surviving chick for the first 2 to 3 weeks, and leaves the chick in a crèche with the male.

[ANS] a

Question 48:

A young man from a small provincial town – a man without independent wealth, without powerful family connections and without a university education – moved to London in the late 1580’s and, in a remarkably short time, became the greatest playwright not of his age alone but of all time. Shakespeare’s works appeal to the learned and the unlettered, to urban sophisticates and provincial first-time theatregoers. He makes his audiences laugh and cry; he turns politics into poetry; he recklessly mingles vulgar clowning and philosophical subtlety. He grasps with equal penetration the intimate lives of kings and of beggars; he seems at one moment to have studied law, at another theology, at another ancient history, while at the same time he effortlessly mimics the accents of country bumpkins and takes delight in old wives’ tales. Virtually all his rivals in the highly competitive theatre business found themselves on the straight road to starvation; this one playwright by contrast made enough money to buy one of the best houses in the hometown to which he retired when he was around 50, the self-made protagonist of an amazing success story that has resisted explanation for 400 years.

(a) Shakespeare is for everyone. His works evoke a rich tapestry of emotions. One of the prime characteristics of Shakespeare’s art is the touch of the real. People rarely feel closer to understanding how the playwright’s achievements came about.
(b) Shakespeare’s multifaceted works appeal to a variety of people and elicit a range of emotions. He was a person without much affiliations or wealth or education, yet he became wealthy unlike his rivals. He is considered the greatest play right of all times. His success story is a mystery. (Answer)
(c) Shakespeare’s works are characterized by extreme and apparent polarities: simple and elaborate, organic and synthetic, whimsical and profound. How Shakespeare became Shakespeare is a mystery.
(d) Shakespeare is surprisingly accomplished. Very little is understood about the experiences, either then or now, that make such creative leaps possible.

[ANS] b

Question 49:

Because we have by now so deeply internalized writing, made it so much a part of ourselves, we find it difficult to consider writing to be a technology as we commonly assume printing and the computer to be. Yet writing (and especially alphabetic writing) is a technology, calling for the use of tools and other equipment: styli or brushes or pens, carefully prepared surfaces such as paper, animal skins, strips of wood, as well as inks or paints, and much more. Writing is, in a way, the most drastic of the three technologies. It initiated what print and computers only continue, the reduction of dynamic sound to quiescent space, the separation of the word from the living present, where alone spoken words can exist.

(a) Writing is so commonplace nowadays that we don’t realize that it is a technology like printing and computers, as they all require tools and specialized equipment.
(b) Because we have internalized writing, we do not realize it is a technology like printing and computers, and uses its own tools. Writing is the most extreme of these, as it originated the changing of dynamic spoken sounds to static written words.
(c) Writing is a technology, just like printing and computers, as it requires the use of tools and other equipment. But because we have internalized writing, we fail to realize that it is the most drastic of the three, as it started what the other two only continue.
(d) Writing first turned living sound into inert space, thus initiating a drastic new technology, whose process printing and modern computers only continue, though we normally do not realize this, as we have deeply internalized writing.

[ANS] b

Question 50:

At a factory in Accrington, Britain, a company Emerson & Renwick has expanded beyond its formative business of making wallpaper/newspaper-printing equipment. A new machine “Genesis” has been designed to coat and print electrical devices. Like a conventional printer, it puts sequential coatings onto webs (long rolls) of material such as plastic film, flexible glass and metal foil. The printed items are then cut out and used in various products.
The underlying technologies of the Genesis machine are similar to those found in a conventional graphics press. Careful management of the web through its winding, tension and control is essential. A break in the web, as any newspaperman knows, brings production to a time-consuming and expensive halt and could damage a whole reel.
Several groups are working on making thin-film solar panels using printed electronics. A family of crystalline materials called perovskites is attracting interest for roll-to-roll printing. Whereas the best conventionally made silicon-based solar panels convert the energy in sunlight into electricity with an efficiency of 20%, researchers in California, think they can push that to 31% using perovskites

(a) A traditional printing company has developed a machine that prints on flexible surfaces, which may soon replace silicon-based solar technology.
(b) Advances in thin-film solar technology using perovskites have prompted many manufacturers to abandon older silicon-based methods.
(c) A conventional printing-press manufacturer is repurposing its expertise to enable roll-to-roll production of flexible electronic devices, including potential solar panels.
(d) The Genesis machine, designed for newspaper printing, is now being modified for use in solar panel manufacturing and energy conversion.

[ANS] c

Question 51:

In the past, when a technology revolution threatened the wholesale loss of jobs in an economic sector, a new sector emerged to absorb the surplus labor. Earlier in the twentieth century, the fledgling manufacturing sector was able to absorb many of the millions of farmhands and farm owners who were displaced by the rapid mechanization of agriculture. Between the mid-1950s and the early 1980s, the fast-growing service sector was able to re-employ many of the blue-collar workers displaced by automation. Today, however, as all these sectors fall victim to rapid restructuring and automation, no “significant” new sector has developed to absorb the millions who are being displaced. The only new sector on the horizon is the knowledge sector, an elite group of industries and professional disciplines responsible for ushering in the new high-tech automated economy of the future. The new professionals – the so-called symbolic analysts or knowledge workers – come from the fields of science, engineering, management, consultancy, teaching, marketing, media, and entertainment. While their numbers will continue to grow, they will remain small compared to the number of workers displaced by the new generation of “thinking machines”.

(a) While in the past, workers in different sectors were interchangeable, today, the new technological revolution will lead to new employment opportunities if there is a well-trained workforce available to respond to the challenges of the “information age.”
(b) While in the past, workers in different sectors were interchangeable, technological change ensured that there is no sector to absorb displaced workers except the knowledge sector.
(c) While in the past, job loss in a particular sector was mitigated by absorption of labour in other sectors, today, no new sector has developed to absorb the displaced workforce. The newly developing knowledge sector has professionals from various fields but their numbers will be small compared to the numbers displaced by restructuring and automation.
(d) The increasing automation of production, manufacturing and services will eliminate the worker totally unless the worker keeps up with the times and becomes a knowledge worker. Consequently, there will be a huge unemployment problem when the last service worker is replaced by the latest ATM, virtual office machine, or heretofore unconceived application of technology.

[ANS] c

Question 52:

Malls are the ultimate consumption paradise, because everything is carefully presented and available for consumption. Mall developers need to bring many customers into their complex. But they realize that not all shops are equal. Some big department stores generate far more customer traffic for their neighbours than their neighbours do for them. This creates what economists call “positive externality.” A department store chain must decide whether to open a new store by working out how much profit it will earn. If much of the traffic the store generates would benefit other retailers instead, the department store may not have a viable business. Yet if it therefore decides not to build, all of the neighbouring shops will miss the positive externality a new department store would generate. The private sector often finds its own solutions to externality problems. Because a property developer owns the entire shopping complex, its profits depend on the entire mall, not on any particular shop. By choosing the right mix of tenants and charging rents that reflect each store’s contribution to the mall’s overall revenues – including the business it brings to other stores – the developer can ‘internalize’ the externality and maximize its profits.

Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

(a) Department stores are often unprofitable because they inadvertently help their competitors by generating foot traffic, leading to market inefficiencies that discourage expansion.
(b) While individual retailers may struggle to justify opening a new store due to external benefits they cannot capture, mall developers can overcome this by internalizing such externalities through strategic tenant placement and rent structuring.
(c) Shopping malls are designed to create an illusion of abundance, but the underlying economic dynamics often result in unfair rent structures that disadvantage high-traffic stores.
(d) The success of shopping malls depends entirely on department stores, which must weigh their profitability against the benefits their presence provides to other retailers.

[ANS] b

Question 53:

When Parliament decided, in 1709, to create a law that would protect books from piracy, the London-based publishers and booksellers who had been pushing for such protection were overjoyed. When Queen Anne gave her assent on April 10th the following year to “An act for the encouragement of learning” they were less enthused. Parliament had given them rights, but it had set a time limit on them: 21 years for books already in print and 14 years for new ones, with an additional 14 years if the author was still alive when the first term ran out. After that, the material would enter the public domain so that anyone could reproduce it. The lawmakers intended thus to balance the incentive to create with the interest that society has in free access to knowledge and art. The Statute of Anne thus helped nurture and channel the spate of inventiveness that Enlightenment society and its successors have since enjoyed. Over the past 50 years, however, that balance has shifted. In America, copyright holders get 95 years’ protection as a result of an extension granted in 1998, derided by critics as the “Mickey Mouse Protection Act”. They are now calling for even greater protection, and there have been efforts to introduce similar terms in Europe. Such arguments should be resisted: it is time to tip the balance back.

Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

(a) The Statute of Anne marked a turning point in copyright history by giving publishers perpetual rights to protect books from piracy, a tradition that continues to benefit copyright holders in the modern era.
(b) Copyright laws, initially created to balance public and private interests, have increasingly favored copyright holders, and it is now necessary to restore equilibrium in favor of public access.
(c) Although early copyright laws were flawed due to limited protection for authors, recent legislation like America’s 1998 extension finally provides creators the long-term rights they deserve.
(d) Efforts by European and American legislators to align copyright terms have led to inconsistency in global intellectual property law, requiring harmonization to protect both authors and consumers.

[ANS] b

Question 54:

Why cannot we talk of the real Tao? The real Tao is not a concept, and therefore words cannot describe it. It is beyond organized religion, cultures, philosophy, and spirituality. It is something that must be lived and experienced and not just talked about. All Chinese philosophy has tried to understand the cosmos and unify Heaven, Earth and mankind, the sublime and the mundane, the material and the spiritual. The Chinese have always tried to integrate man and nature, knowing that man and nature are not two separate entities. The ancient Chinese had a holistic, ecological view of life, in which our existence on earth only makes sense if it is linked with the sun, the moon and the stars, the wind and the rain, and all the other processes of nature. At its deepest level, Taoism which is of ancient Chinese origin, says we have enough to do being authentic and vital, compassionate and ethical in real life – right here, right now; so, we need not invent other worlds or ruling forces whose existence in any case is uncertain and confusing. Taoism exhorts the seeker to be natural, follow nature’s principles, and attain an enlightened and empowered state of being.

(a) Taoism is against the invention of new worlds because that gives rise to uncertainties and confusion. By supporting a life close to nature, Taoism actually contradicts the social mores and the precepts of established cultures. It unifies heaven and earth and other elements of the cosmos.
(b) Taoism, as a spiritual concept, originated in China, and is aimed at a proper understanding of the cosmos. Taoism advocates a life close to nature as all life depended on all other life for its existence and that thinking of things as separate is only possible intellectually. It forbids a pursuit of other worlds and forces which will leave one confused and unenlightened.
(c) Taoism, an ancient Chinese philosophy, seeks a basic comprehension of the cosmos. Taoism advocates a natural way of life, and claims that invented worlds are not needed to give a good life. It has had a significant impact on the development of Chinese civilization and its ideas pervade all aspects of the culture.
(d) Taoism, of ancient Chinese origin, defies wordy description and is beyond organized religion, cultures, philosophy, and spirituality. Its essence is performing natural, moral and real deeds in the here and now and being connected with nature, without inventing new worlds or uncertain ruling forces, so that one attains enlightenment.

[ANS] d

Question 55:

It seems incredible, but in a country that keeps around 30% of the fresh water, and shelters the largest rain forest, in the world, we can find a “desert”. Located in the State of Maranhão, on the north shore of Brazil, the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park is an area of about 300 square kilometers of blinding white dunes and deep blue lagoons, forming one of the most beautiful and unique places in the world. The dunes invade the continent over 50 km from the coast, creating a landscape that reminds a white bed sheet, when seen from above. What distinguishes this region from a desert is the amount of rain that drops over the dunes, creating ponds of crystal clear water on the depressions between dunes. It records an annual rainfall of 1,600 mm, 300 times more than in the Sahara. During drought, the lagoons evaporate and become completely dried. After the rainy season, the lagoons are home to many species of fish, turtles and clams. The mystery lies in the fact that when the lagoons fill up, life comes back, as if they had never left the place. The eggs of the fish and crabs are probably maintained alive in the sand, exploding when rain comes back.

(a) The Lençóis Maranheses is certainly a unique place you will never forget. It has 30% of the fresh water of Brazil and shelters the largest rain forest in the world. The most famous lagoon in the park, due to its beauty, is the Blue Lagoon. The lagoons are dry during drought but after the rains, they support a lot of marine life.
(b) Spread over 300 sq km in Maranhão, to the north of Brazil, the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park has deep blue lagoons and blinding white dunes resembling a white bed sheet for over 50 km from the coast. Though it is a desert and the lagoons become totally dried during drought, the park records 1600 mm of annual rainfall. After the rains, fish, turtle and clams reappear in the lagoons because the eggs of fish and crabs are preserved alive.
(c) The Lençóis Maranhenses National Park is one of the most beautiful and unique places in the world. It functions both as a desert and a lagoon and supports life. It gets 1600 mm of rainfall every year and covers an area of 300 square kms. The park is housed in Maranhao in Brazil.
(d) Despite its desert like appearance, the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, located in Maranhão, on the north shore of Brazil, records an annual rainfall of 1,600 mm. The lagoons of the park evaporate when there is drought but, during the rains, species like fish, turtles and clams thrive. This is because the eggs of fish and crabs are, perhaps, buried alive in the sand even during the drought.

[ANS] d

Question 56:

Origination is very important to bring about a communication. People with low imagination communicate mainly regarding subjects that are handed to them by external sources. They wait for an exterior circumstance to bring about an interaction; otherwise they do not engage by ‘creating’ a communication. They either have a compulsively irresistible urge towards doing something, or are inhibited and behave awkwardly and unnaturally in communicating. If they manage to engage, they often turn sharply towards derailment of the dialogue, and bring about a good degree of resentment, ill will and unwanted conclusions. As a result, we can conclude, that a pleasant and engaging conversation requires the participation of two imaginative minds, with similar or balanced endowment of creative impulses, to mutually create the art of communication.

(a) The people having difficulties with initiating a conversation are generally accustomed to pre-packaged amusements. They find it difficult to originate a thought on their own or to be inspired by their own imagination; and they become somewhat vexed when faced with an ‘imaginative conversationalist’ with whom they cannot really interact.
(b) The people who do not originate a conversation, or do not engage imaginatively, are inherently dependent upon others to give them primal reasons to engage in a conversation; this is due to being endowed with very little imagination. We can say that communication is the mirror of one’s upbringing.
(c) People with low imagination depend on external sources for creating a communicative interaction. More often than not, they may behave awkwardly while communicating but sometimes, they may derail the dialogue leading to negative emotions. Communication needs the right balance of imagination and creativity.
(d) People with low imagination depend on external sources for bringing about a communicative interaction. They may behave compulsively or awkwardly while communicating or may derail the dialogue leading to ill will and unnecessary interpretations. The art of communication requires the participation of imaginative minds with a balanced measure of creative impulses.

[ANS] 4

Question 57:

Cross the boundaries of the former Yugoslavia and you face a few hassles. Heading from Slovenia to Croatia you encounter the Schengen border, which separates the European Union’s passport-free area from those EU countries which are not members of it. Cross from Croatia into Serbia or Bosnia-Herzegovina, and you leave the EU entirely; here you find customs checks and passport controls. The one thing you might not even notice is a difference in language. In Slovenia, tourists might pick up dobrodosli, dober dan and hvala, “welcome”, “hello” and “thank you”. In Croatia, these are dobrodosli, dobar dan and hvala. Not everything is the same, by any means. But Croatians and Slovenes can largely understand each other’s languages. Then, why are they considered two distinct languages at all? Yugoslavia, cobbled together from territories mostly populated with speakers of southern Slavic tongues, was dominated by a language called Serbo-Croatian. Serbians wrote it with the Cyrillic alphabet, and Croats, Muslims and Montenegrins preferred the Latin one. But a few minor dialectal differences aside, they all clearly spoke the same language, its varieties closer even than Slovenian and Croatian are. But when Yugoslavia broke up and the republics went to war, not only the state but the language of Serbo-Croatian was dismantled. Nationalists in the successor republics insist today that they speak Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian and Montenegrin. Last year liberal intellectuals gathered in Sarajevo to affirm that Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins and Bosniaks speak a single “polycentric” language like English (with its standard British, American and other varieties). Nationalists howled.

Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

(a) While border crossings in the former Yugoslavia now present logistical and linguistic challenges, the continued cultural overlap between nations reflects deep-rooted unity that political fragmentation cannot erase.
(b) The linguistic divisions in the former Yugoslavia are historically rooted in alphabetic and dialectal differences, and modern border controls reinforce these long-standing distinctions.
(c) Although the breakup of Yugoslavia led to the political and linguistic separation of its republics, the languages spoken remain so similar that attempts to reclassify them as distinct often reflect nationalist agendas more than linguistic reality.
(d) Even though Serbo-Croatian used to unite the people of Yugoslavia, regional dialects like Slovenian and Bosnian have since evolved into fully distinct languages, and cross-border communication is now more difficult than ever.

[ANS] c

Question 58:

Whatever is fitted in any sort to excite the ideas of pain and danger, that is to say, whatever is in any sort terrible, or is conversant about terrible objects, or operates in a manner analogous to terror, is a source of the sublime; that is, it is productive of the strongest emotion which the mind is capable of feeling. I say the strongest emotion, because I am satisfied the ideas of pain are much more powerful than those which enter on the part of pleasure. Without all doubt, the torments which we may be made to suffer are much greater in their effect on the body and mind, than any pleasure which the most learned voluptuary could suggest, or than the liveliest imagination, and the most sound and exquisitely sensible body, could enjoy. Nay, I am in great doubt whether any man could be found, who would earn a life of the most perfect satisfaction, at the price of ending it in the torments, which justice inflicted in a few hours on the late unfortunate regicide in France. But as pain is stronger in its operation than pleasure, so death is in general a much more affecting idea than pain; because there are very few pains, however exquisite, which are not preferred to death: nay, what generally makes pain itself, if I may say so, more painful, is, that it is considered as an emissary of this king of terrors. When danger or pain press too nearly, they are incapable of giving any delight, and are simply terrible; but at certain distances, and with certain modifications, they may be, and they are, delightful, as we everyday experience.

(a) The sublime can be defined as excellence or expression of a great feeling and in this regard, pain stimuli score over pleasure stimuli. The arousal of pain and danger is the source of the sublime.
(b) Pain and danger are simply painful when their causes immediately affect us, they are delightful when we have an idea of pain and danger. Ideas and events related to pleasure, pain and death help yield the sublime in our everyday lives.
(c) Events in France have shown that all ideas related to pleasure are less effective in generating the sublime than most ideas of pain. The ideas of death play the highest role in making the mind express the strongest emotions possible.
(d) The ideas of death and the events leading to death are more exacting on the mind and body than the ideas of pain and the anticipated torments of painful situations which, in turn, are more powerful than the ideas of pleasure and the effects of pleasurable stimuli. Notions of danger and pain are sources of the sublime and, in certain circumstances, can yield delightful experiences.

[ANS] d

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Question 59:

The fortunes of Japan’s large trading houses have tended to fluctuate with those of the country as a whole, from its opening-up in the 19th century, through the disaster of war in the 1940s, to the highs and lows of the bubble era. But lately the traders have decoupled. While much of Japan is stagnant, the likes of Mitsubishi and Mitsui have become prime movers in the world’s natural-resources boom. This is surprising. In an age of land-grabbing state capitalism, the sogo shosha, as they are collectively known, could easily have been trampled underfoot by Chinese energy giants or sovereign-wealth funds. Instead, they have recently pulled off a string of huge deals involving North American shale gas, vast (and disputed) Chilean copper mines, and Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG).

(a) Unlike those of the country, the fortunes of large Japanese trading houses have tended to fluctuate since the 19th century. But lately companies like Mitsubishi and Mitsui have become prime movers in the natural-resources boom and have bagged a string of prestigious deals. This is surprising considering today’s land grabbing state capitalism.
(b) With the fortunes of the country, those of large Japanese trading houses have fluctuated but, of late, companies like Mitsubishi and Mitsui have surprisingly become prime movers in the natural-resources boom and have secured sizeable deals.
(c) The fortunes of large Japanese trading houses and those of the country have been fluctuating since the 19th century but, of late, companies like Mitsubishi and Mitsui have become important players in the natural-resources boom and have bagged prestigious deals like North American shale gas, vast (and disputed) Chilean copper mines, and Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG).
(d) The fortunes of Japan’s trading houses, like those of the country, have been fluctuating since the 19th century. But lately the trading houses have become prime players and have secured prestigious deals. This is surprising considering today’s land grabbing capitalism.

[ANS] b

Question 60:

Studies like Glaser’s and Dr Tracy’s have “given credibility to mind body approaches, which had been rejected and ignored by the scientific and medical communities,” says Esther Sternberg, MD, Director of the Integrative Neural Immune Program at the National Institute of Mental Health. Now scientists and doctors have begun taking the next step, harnessing the immense powers of the human brain to help people heal themselves. For example, using special MRI scanners and software that allowed patients to see their own brain activity, scientists at Stanford university and Omneuson, a biotech company, trained participants to reduce chronic pain by just visualizing it and learning to control it. Some were able to decrease it by more than 40 percent, says pain expert Sean Mackey, MD, one of the study leaders. Dr. Mackey foresees a day when doctors might use such imaging to train us to ease depression, battle addiction or overcome phobias. And years from now, he says, we may head to a real-time brain imaging centre the way we go to the fitness centre today, and buff up parts of our brain that improve performance, memory and even intelligence. Now, that would be a real no brainer.

Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

(a) While mind-body approaches were once dismissed, recent studies have validated their effectiveness; using brain imaging, individuals can now be trained to manage pain and potentially other mental health issues in the future.
(b) The credibility of mind-body techniques has been re-established by institutions like Stanford, and studies suggest brain imaging can now replace traditional medical treatments for a wide range of disorders.
(c) The primary goal of brain imaging is to create centers akin to fitness clubs that focus on boosting mental performance and curing chronic diseases through non-invasive therapy.
(d) Pain experts like Dr. Mackey and researchers from biotech firms have shown that controlling brain activity through visualization is the most effective treatment method for depression, addiction, and other emotional disorders.

[ANS] a

Question 61:

For years, commercial fishermen in the US had believed that their catch limits were restricted by flawed sampling data techniques employed by government scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They had always joked that PhDs in Marine Science didn’t necessarily know how to fish. … A historic ruling by U.S. Federal District Court Judge Gladys Kessler pushing the deadline for implementation of Amendment 13, which would set catch limits on specific New England groundfish species, back from August 22, 2003 to May 1, 2004, was thus seen as a welcome move by US fishermen. The decision was also a victory for several environmental groups who had asked that the rules be delayed by nine months in order for the public to better understand the science behind the restrictions. The decision did not, however, change the court’s deadline for rebuilding groundfish stocks. Groundfish are species such as cod, haddock, flounder that feed close to the bottom of the ocean from the Canadian border to Cape Hatteras. The judge’s decision was only the latest legal ruling in a battle for the future of New England groundfish. Studies at that time indicated that 18 of 20 New England groundfish species were below healthy population levels. Twelve of these species were at less than half of their sustainable population levels and eight species were at less than one-fourth of such levels.

Which of the following best captures the main idea of the passage?

(a) A federal court’s decision to delay the implementation of catch limits on New England groundfish was seen as a rare convergence of interests between fishermen and environmentalists, allowing more time to scrutinize the science without altering the urgency of fish stock recovery.
(b) Due to flawed government science and mounting legal pressure, the NOAA was forced to permanently abandon Amendment 13, which would have placed catch limits on key New England groundfish species to protect their declining populations.
(c) Although most New England groundfish species were nearing extinction, a court ruling permitted commercial fishermen to continue unrestricted fishing while scientists reevaluated population data and developed more accurate methods.
(d) Groundfish populations in New England are in such critical decline that U.S. fishermen and environmentalists alike have abandoned previous disagreements and embraced strict conservation laws in hopes of reversing decades of ecological damage.

[ANS] a

Question 62:

It is said that for a corporation, the ‘unhappy customers are its greatest source of learning’ and these words are frequently used in business meetings and training workshops for employees engaged in customer relationship management (CRM) activities. These famous words were spoken by Bill Gates, at that time, when the world was re-discovering the art of listening to the customers by implementing better CRM practices. A company could discover important insights from their customers (whether happy or unhappy) and use these insights to improve processes and products so that they can make it better for their future customers. So when Whirlpool launched their washing machines way back in India, they listened to their ‘unhappy customers’ and realized that the typical Indian dress such as a saree or a dhoti were too big to be washed properly in their machines. Hence, they did some product redesign and launched a series of washing machines catering to the Indian customer’s needs – and this translated to increased sales and market share for the company.

Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

(a) Corporations should focus more on their unhappy customers, as this group can provide valuable insights that lead to product innovation and improved CRM strategies, as exemplified by Whirlpool’s adaptation to Indian market needs.
(b) Bill Gates was one of the earliest business leaders to advocate for customer listening, and his advice was widely adopted during a global shift toward advanced CRM systems and technological innovation in the appliance sector.
(c) Listening to customer complaints allows companies to improve their CRM software systems and increase market share, as demonstrated by global appliance companies adapting to new geographic markets.
(d) Whirlpool’s success in the Indian market was primarily due to their market research and observation of traditional Indian attire, which led to a surge in sales and proved the benefits of region-specific customization.

[ANS] a

Question 63:

MILLIONS of people did not have to die in the First World War. That is the grim message of Margaret MacMillan’s magnificent new book “The War That Ended Peace”. Had Europe’s leaders in 1914 been wiser and more far-sighted – had they pulled back from the brink, as had happened in earlier crises – Europe and the world could have avoided grief and ruin. The Great War had a kaleidoscope of causes. The shifting European alliances ultimately pulled one nation after another into the war. National pride was a potent force. Russia, bruised by setbacks in the Balkans and its 1904-05 war with Japan, hoped that war could kindle nationalism. Germany, unified by Otto von Bismarck but no longer bound by his restraint, was hungry for empire and respect. (“For if we are to bleed to death, England shall at least lose India,” Kaiser Wilhelm II declared at the war’s outbreak.) Italy, a bit player, “always jumped at the chance to be treated as a great power”. Public opinion was important in countries that had just shed feudalism and were coping with rising tides of socialism and nationalism.

Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

(a) Although the First World War was inevitable due to rising nationalism and imperial ambitions, European powers like Germany, Russia, and Italy each pursued war to fulfill their own territorial or political goals.
(b) MacMillan’s book emphasizes the importance of wise and visionary leadership in times of crisis, pointing out that European nations were doomed by their reliance on outdated feudal structures and militaristic pride.
(c) The alliances formed by European nations, particularly Germany, Russia, and Italy, were inherently unstable, and their collapse led to a domino effect that ultimately caused World War I.
(d) The First World War was the tragic result of missed diplomatic opportunities and short-sighted leadership, despite multiple chances for de-escalation and a complex web of nationalistic and geopolitical motives.

[ANS] d

Question 64:

The concept of personal rights and freedoms that guides our legal institutions is outdated. It is built on a model of a free individual who enjoys an untouchable inner life. Now, though, our thoughts can be invaded before they have even been developed – and in a way, perhaps this is nothing new. The Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman used to say that he thought with his notebook. Without a pen and pencil, a great deal of complex reflection and analysis would never have been possible. If the extended mind view is right, then even technologies such as those used in the smartphone would merit recognition and protection as a part of the essential toolkit of the mind.

(a) While there is legal protection for a free individual’s rights and freedoms, the laws have not evolved enough to protect those technologies which are just an extension of our mind.
(b) Our smartphone is just an extension of our mind and hence merits protection and recognition just the same way as legal institutions protect personal rights and freedoms.
(c) The idea of a free individual with a private inner life has been rendered obsolete by technologies which are just extensions of our mind, and there are no laws to protect them.
(d) Complex reflection is impossible without a technological toolkit acting as an extension of the mind and the legal system based on an obsolete concept of individual freedom must be enhanced to protect the same.

[ANS] d

Question 65:

The sentences given in this question, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Each sentence is labelled with a number (1, 2, 3, and 4). Decide on the proper order for the sentences and key in the correct sequence of four numbers as your answer in the input box given below the question.

(a) As a result, a distinctive approach to education has emerged within Silicon Valley itself.
(b) That year saw the publication of a report by Global Silicon Valley (a merchant bank that has advised, invested in and accelerated many technology companies) entitled American Revolution 2.0
(c) Established Silicon Valley technology companies, wealthy philanthropic entrepreneurs, venture capital investors, and new startup organizations have become committed to educational innovation and reform particularly since 2012.
(d) It described key technical catalysts for educational transformation and reform such as cloud computing. wired classrooms, low-cost hardware, and software and estimated the K-12 education market to be worth over $2.2 trillion.

[ANS] cbda

Question 66:

(a) We can use the techniques of archaeology to uncover the skeletal remains of our ancestors from the distant past.
(b) Archaeologists excavate or survey the remains of societies that existed many thousands of years ago or the remains of societies from recent times.
(c) As Louis Leakey showed us, our early human ancestors probably hunted and foraged for food on the continent of Africa long before North and South America or Australia were inhabited by people.
(d) The exciting findings of human paleontology (the study of fossils) have pushed back our ancestry as tool-using humans who walked on two legs to several million years ago.

[ANS] badc

Question 67:

The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

What political theory can hope to contribute is a small number of relatively simple analytical thoughts that may prove helpful in the unending and necessarily exhausting attempt to comprehend both in theory and practice the task of handling the economics, politics, and social, biological (and even physical and chemical) relations of an increasingly globalized human habitat. A handful of such thoughts can be divided for convenience into points about values, points about history, and points about the intrinsic difficulties of understanding politics. In their ensemble they can be seen as bearing directly on the issue of how to understand the concept of prudence for a modern population.

(a) Political theory, by encompassing considerations of history, values, and politics, has helped in comprehending various aspects of the modem human population.
(b) Globalisation of the human habitat allows political theory to play a vital role in defining the role played by history, politics and values in such a society.
(c) Political theory helps us analyse the economics, politics, society, and biology of the globalized human habitat.
(d) Political theory could be helpful in understanding, through a perspective in politics, values, and history, the arduous task of dealing with various aspects of the globalised modern population.

[ANS] d

Question 68:

The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

Narrative as it is used by historians is not merely an incidental, stylistic feature of the historian’s craft, but essential to historical explanation. Narrative presupposes a world of things that endure through change. Stories fill in the gaps in our experience and thus make continuity visible. Ideally, narrative stands proxy for experience, though this ideal can never be attained. No criterion can be formulated that will signify when a story is complete enough. The changing perspective of the historians and the infinite detail with which they have to deal make their task a continuous one. Yet the historians cannot be radically subjective because their story is always limited by the chronology of the events and the accuracy of the details.

(a) Historians use narrative to fill the gaps in stories that need continuity as history is constrained by chronology and accuracy of details.
(b) Constrained by chronology and details, historians use narrative to bring continuity to the experience that historical explanations cannot provide on their own.
(c) Narrative is an imperfect proxy for experience, but it is persisted with to reflect the continuity of a story and a historian’s perspective, through limitations of chronology and accuracy.
(d) Narrative is essential to bring to historical stories what they lack in experience because of the limitations placed by chronology and accuracy of details.

[ANS] c

Question 69:

There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide where (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.

Sentence: There is much to learn, when we think about the ongoing culture wars over moral values, from the encounters with relativism that recur throughout Williams’ work.

Paragraph: ________ (1) ________ The acclaimed British philosopher Bernard Williams, writing in the 1970s, showed that a common way of arguing for moral relativism is confused and contradictory. _________ (2) ________ Nonetheless, he went on to defend a philosophical worldview that incorporated some of relativism’s underlying ideas. ________ (3) _______ First, however, it’s useful to understand why a prevalent feature of the culture wars, arguing over which words to use, itself quickly leads to arguments over relativism. ________ (4) _________

(a) Option I
(b) Option 2
(c) Option 3
(d) Option 4

[ANS] c

Question 70:

There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide where (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.

Sentence: It was confusing.

Paragraph: ________ (1) _______ When the novel coronavirus hit the world in early 2020, Sweden of all countries chose to ignore the global consensus that favoured lockdowns and severe restrictions. _________ (2) ________ Better known for its interventionist welfare policies, Sweden suddenly seemed to have become a European version of Texas by putting individual liberty before the collective good. The liberal New York Times dubbed it a ‘pariah state and accused Swedish politicians and health officials of keeping Sweden open for economic reasons. _______ (3) _______ At the other end of the political spectrum, Right-wing American radicals who demonstrated against government restrictions carried signs calling for their leaders to follow Sweden’s example. ________ (4) _________ Perplexing to all, the spectacle or spectre of a ‘libertarian welfare state’ loomed.

(a) Option 1
(b) Option 2
(c) Option 3
(d) Option 4

[ANS] a

Question 71:

Directions: The sentences given in the following question, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Each sentence is indicated with a number. Choose the most logical order of sentences that constructs a coherent paragraph and mark the correct sequence of numbers in the box provided.

(a) Up to 5,000 U.S. servicemen live on the largest island, Diego Garcia, and have all their food, drink and essentials flown in.
(b) The British government is sending experts to the Chagos islands to see if it is feasible to resettle the tropical archipelago from which it evicted hundreds of families 40 years ago to make way for a U.S base.
(c) Suggestions include “a modern lifestyle, an eco-village, a pilot resettlement with some employment on the military base and a scientific research station”.
(d) The remaining 50 islands and reefs, which stretch over hundreds of square miles, are now uninhabited and it is the dream of many Chagossian families living mainly in Britain and Mauritius to return.
(e) The independent consultants, who will not include Chagossians, have been instructed by the Foreign Office (FCO) to “neutrally” examine the options in establishing several sorts of community on the outer islands and Diego Garcia.

[ANS] badec

Question 72:

(a) In fact, so convinced are the markets about this outcome that they have started looking beyond election results and even government formation.
(b) Now that the actual dates for the elections have been announced, the markets are coming under scrutiny every day.
(c) The behavior of the financial markets, as well as stock and foreign exchange markets at the time of elections is analyzed at several levels.
(d) The most significant message so far is that the stock market are betting on an NDA government.
(e) Messages are sought to be read into market movements, whether they are tenable or not.

[ANS] cbeda

Question 73:

Directions: The following question presents 5 statements of which 4, when placed in appropriate order, would form a contextually complete paragraph. Pick a statement that is not part of that context and indicate the number corresponding with it in the box provided.

(a) I have said it more than once here, but I think the idea bears repetition, that swadeshism at its highest is not merely an industrial movement, but that it affects the whole life of the nation– that swadeshism at its highest is a deep, passionate, fervent, all-embracing love of the motherland, and that this love seeks to show itself, not in one sphere of activity but all spheres of life, it invades the entire being of man, and it will not rest until it has raised all of mankind.
(b) One of the most gratifying signs of the present times is the rapid growth of the swadeshi sentiment all over the country during the last two years.
(c) These three ways of serving the swadeshi cause are, however, open to a limited number of persons only.
(d) Our resources are small, and our difficulties are huge and it behoves us, therefore, not to disregard any cooperator, from whatever quarter it may be forthcoming.
(e) The first thing I want to say about this movement is that it has now come to stay.

[ANS] c

Question 74:

(a) “It is a difficult, but important question to answer, as it may tell us an even bigger story about how human activities are changing the ocean”, she says.
(b) They found that the numbers have increased significantly over the last six decades.
(c) This is the conclusion arrived at by a group of researchers after they studied cephalopod data from 1953 to 2013.
(d) These are octopuses, squids and cuttlefish, known as cephalopods.
(e) Although unchecked carbon emissions into the atmosphere and other human actions have devastated many marine species, there is one group of creatures that seems to be thriving.

[ANS] a

Question 75:

Directions: Four alternative summaries are given below the text. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the text and indicate the number corresponding with it in the box provided.

US President Donald Trump has said he might take the services of a New York billionaire to review American intelligence agencies and the leaks flowing out of them which have fuelled a string of damaging news reports on his administration.

(a) US President Donald Trump might avail the services of a billionaire to get to the root of leaks leading to damaging administration reports.
(b) US President Donald Trump is irked with the American intelligence agencies and may hire a New York billionaire to investigate the intelligence leaks which have damaged the image of his administration.
(c) A New York billionaire may bag the chance of reviewing American intelligence services and plug the leaks leading to reputation loss of the U.S. president Donald Trump.
(d) American intelligence agencies have been facing the heat for leading to damaging reports on the Trump administration and may have a New York billionaire after them for investigation.

[ANS] c

Question 76:

Directions: Four alternative summaries are given below the text. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the text and indicate the number corresponding with it in the box provided.

India is a country where people are burdened by a system that thwarts progress, Munger, a prominent investor said, when asked about the nation’s economy; China has been effective in lifting workers out of poverty, Munger said, but not without pointing out what he sees as a flaw among its population.

(a) While comparing the economies of India and China, investor Munger laments that Indian people are suppressed by a non-progressive system while Chinese have a progressive system but a flaw in the population.
(b) Munger the investor, sees an India burdened with non-progressive systems and China with a poverty eradication policy in place but a flaw in its population.
(c) India and China are progressing economics, but India is burdened with a non-progressive system whereas China is successful in poverty eradication but with a flaw in the population.
(d) In India, progress is hampered by non-progressive systems and China effectively manages its poverty though with a flaw in its population observed investor Munger.

[ANS] b

Question 77:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

The progressive decrease in physiclogical capacity and the reduced ability to respond to environmental stresses lead to increased susceptibility and vulnerability to disease.

_________1 ________ In humans, aging is inexorable. ________ 2 _______ Consequently, mortality due to all causes increases exponentially with aging. Attempts at understanding the causes of aging are limited by the complexity of the problem. _________ 3 _________ Aging changes are manifest from the molecular to the organismic level: environmental factors affect experimental observations; secondary effects complicate elucidation of primary mechanisms; and precisely defined, easily measurable “biomarkers” are lacking. _______ 4 ________No one unifying theory may exist, since the mechanisms of aging could be quite distinct in different organisms, tissues, and cells.

[ANS] 1

Question 78:

Directions: Given below is a sentence which has been removed from the para given. Put this sentence in the right place to make the paragraph logically coherent and complete.

However, in identifying such values, we usually note that they represent accurately only the manifest or espoused values of a culture.

To analyse why members behave the way they do, we often look for the values that govern behaviour. ________ 1 ________But as values are hard to observe directly, it is often necessary to infer them by interviewing key members of the organization or to content analyse artifacts such as documents and charters. _______2 _______ That is, they focus on what people say is the reason for their behaviour, what they ideally would like those reasons to be, and what are often their rationalizations for their behaviour. _____ 3 ______ Yet, the underlying reasons for their behaviour remain concealed or unconscious. _________4 ________.

[ANS] 2

Question 79:

Direction: Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a meaningful and coherent short paragraph. Identify the odd one out. Choose its number as your answer and key it in.

(a) Bakers who were found to be “cheating” their customers by overpricing undersized loaves were subject to strict punishment, including fines or flogging.
(b) Baked goods show fluctuations in rising, baking, air content, and size and weight; and many of these bakers didn’t even have scales to weigh their dough.
(c) Even with careful planning it is difficult to ensure that all of your baked foods come out the same size.
(d) For fear of accidentally coming up short, they would throw in a bit extra to ensure that they wouldn’t end up with a surprise flogging later.
(e) There are a few theories as to why a baker’s dozen became 13 in medieval England there were laws that related the price of bread to the price of the wheat used to make it.

[ANS] c

Question 80:

(a) Birds that build their nests on the ground might want to keep them well camouflaged to help hide them from predators.
(b) Birds in a cold climate, for example, might line their nests with insulating materials, such as grass, to help keep the eggs warm.
(c) Depending on the location and climate of the bird’s habitat, bird nests might need to serve different purposes.
(d) Some birds weave together grass and twigs to form a basket; others might use binding materials, such as mud or even their own saliva to build or help support the nest.
(e) Birds that build their nests in trees need them to be well supported so they don’t get blown out by a gust of wind.

[ANS] d

Question 81:

The passage given below is followed by four alternative summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

(a) For the smallest to the largest of businesses, the reality of the marketplace is that success in potentially fleeting if the buyers just fail to show up and buy.
(b) The actions undertaken by market actors in a market economy are based on faith as every business can be shut down by consumers if they just fail to show up and buy.
(c) The reality of the marketplace is that every business, however small or big, is a step away from bankruptcy as they cannot make people buy what they do not want.
(d) While understanding economics does not need faith, it requires faith to succeed in a business by seeing an unseen future where consumers may just fail to show up and buy.

[ANS] b

Question 82:

The passage given below is followed by four alternative summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

After the formation of the United States, a foreign policy of non-intervention and neutrality toward other nations was adopted by the first Washington administration, because history demonstrated that war inevitably consolidates immense powers into the central government, thereby jeopardizing individual liberty. The founders wanted to make sure that wars were extremely rare and restricted only to the defense of America against a clear and present danger. In today’s era of interventionism, we rarely hear that one of the main costs of war is a long-term loss of liberty to winners and losers alike.

(a) In today’s era of interventionism, the foreign policy of non-involvement and neutrality toward other nations has become history; this goes against the original principles of liberty and impartiality on which the United States was found.
(b) The founders of the United States espoused a foreign policy of non-intervention, restriction of war to defense, and protection of individual liberty, which are rarely heard of in today’s era of interventionism.
(c) In today’s era of interventionism, the United States has forgotten that lesson of history which tells us that war inevitably consolidates immense powers into the central government.
(d) Though the founders of the United States wanted to make sure that wars were extremely rare, the present leaders have abandoned that policy towards other nations leading to a loss of liberty for all.

[ANS] b

Question 83:

Direction: There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide where (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.

Sentence: Solidarity and generosity rarely make the news or make for TV series material.

Paragraph: Hitchhiking is perceived as extremely dangerous because of our contemporary fear of strangers in an unmediated context. ______ (1) ______. But data shows that 75 per cent of murder victims actually knew their killers, 60 per cent of rape victims knew their attacker, only 1 per cent of child kidnapping is done by real strangers. ______ (2) ______. Meanwhile, because of this fear with little statistical basis, we have blown out of proportion our suspicion of travelling strangers. ______ (3) ______. And this has somewhat dehumanised the quality of our relationships with what we now perceive as a gloomier society than what it may actually be. ______ (4) ______.

[ANS] 4

Question 84:

Direction: There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide where (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.

Sentence: This included a rib bone that represents a new Denisovan individual, one of just a handful known.

Paragraph: When life got tough, the Denisovans got tougher. ______ (1) _____. The enigmatic ancient humans hunted birds, rodents, even hyenas, helping them to thrive high on the Tibetan plateau for well over 100,000 years. ______ (2) ______. Those conclusions emerge from a study of thousands of mostly tiny animal bones that provide an insight into life at Baishiya Karst Cave in China – only the second archaeological site known to host Denisovans, after the Siberian cave that gave the group its name. _______ (3) ______. Denisovans are a sister group to Neanderthals, and might have once lived across Asia. Many of the cave remains could be identified only by their protein signatures. ______ (4) ______.

[ANS] d

Question 85:

Direction: The following paragraph consists of four sentences, three of which form a coherent paragraph when arranged in the correct order. Identify the one that is not part of the paragraph.

It does not hurt my pride to acknowledge that, in the present age, Western humanity has received its mission to be the teacher of the world; that her science, through the mastery of laws of nature, is to liberate human souls from the dark dungeon of matter.
I have known that they seek the same God, who is my God even those who deny Him.
I have been fortunate in coming into close touch with individual men and women of the Western countries, and have felt with them their sorrows and shared their aspirations.
The world today is offered to the West; she will destroy it, if she does not use it for a great creation of man.

(a) Statement 1
(b) Statement 2
(c) Statement 3
(d) Statement 4

[ANS] d

Question 86:

Direction: Read the following sentences and arranges them in a logical order.

(a) As chroniclers of an incremental process, they discover that additional research makes it harder, not easier, to answer questions like: When was oxygen discovered? Who first conceived of energy conservation?
(b) Simultaneously, these same historians confront growing difficulties in distinguishing the “scientific” component of past observation and belief from what their predecessors had readily labelled “error” and “superstition”
(c) Increasingly, a few of them suspect that these are simply the wrong sorts of questions to ask. Perhaps science does not develop by the accumulation of individual discoveries and inventions.
(d) In recent years, however, a few historians of science have been finding it more and more difficult to fulfil the functions that the concept of development-by-accumulation assigns to them.

[ANS] dacb

Question 87:

Direction: Here is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide where (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.

Sentence: To their credit, a few scientists have played an active part in publicizing the issues and in promoting the debate about the future direction that science should take and the role of society in shaping it.

Paragraph: As well as the negative and destructive effects of science, another reason for the changed climate of thinking is disappointment at the hard returns from science which has, at times in the past, promised more than it has delivered. ________ (1) _______. We have realized that science is not the supremely important tool we once thought it to be for improving the world. _________(2) _______ On a variety of fronts, from the philosophical to the ruggedly practical, science has been under attack for the sort of world it has produced. ________ (3) ________The whole basis of our science-based, growth-obsessed, industrial civilization is being questioned. ________ (4) __________.

(a) Option 1
(b) Option 2
(c) Option 3
(d) Option 4

[ANS] d

Question 88:

Direction: Here is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide where (aption 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.

Sentence: Therefore, it is important to limit screen time and engage in offline activities.

Paragraph: In today’s fast-paced digital world, people are increasingly reliant on technology for communication, entertainment, and information. _________ (1) _________. With the rise of smartphones and social media platforms, individuals are constantly connected and engaged in virtual interactions. ________ (2) _______. As a result, face-to-face communication and real-life experiences are often neglected, leading to potential drawbacks in personal relationships and social skills. ________(3) _______. It is crucial to strike a balance between the virtual and physical worlds to ensure healthy social development and meaningful connections. ________ (4) ________.

(a) Option 1
(b) Option 2
(c) Option 3
(d) Option 4

[ANS] c

Question 89:

Direction for the question: The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

Heat waves are becoming longer, frequent and intense due to climate change. The impacts of extreme heat are unevenly experienced; with older people and young children, those with pre-existing medical conditions and on low incomes significantly more vulnerable. Adaptation to heatwaves is a significant public policy concern. Research conducted among at-risk people in the UK reveals that even vulnerable people do not perceive themselves as at risk of extreme heat; therefore, early warnings of extreme heat events do not perform as intended. This suggests that understanding how extreme heat is narrated is very important. The news media play a central role in this process and can help warn people about the potential danger, as well as about impacts on infrastructure and society.

(a) Heatwaves pose an enormous risk; the media plays a pivotal role in alerting people to this danger.
(b) Protection from heat waves is important but current reports and public policies seem ineffective.
(c) People are vulnerable to heatwaves caused due to climate change, measures taken are ineffective.
(d) News stories help in warning about heatwaves, but they have to become more effective.

[ANS] a

Question 90:

Direction for the question: The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

People spontaneously create counterfactual alternatives to reality when they think “if only” or “what if” and imagine how the past could have been different. The mind computes counterfactuals for many reasons. Counterfactuals explain the past and prepare for the future, they implicate various relations including causal ones, and they affect intentions and decisions. They modulate emotions such as regret and relief, and they support moral judgments such as blame. The ability to create counterfactuals develops throughout childhood and contributes to reasoning about other people’s beliefs, including their false beliefs.

(a) People create counterfactual alternatives to reality for various reasons, including reasoning about other people’s beliefs.
(b) Counterfactual thinking helps to reverse past and future actions and reason out false beliefs.
(c) Counterfactual alternatives to reality are created for a variety of reasons and is part of one’s developmental process.
(d) Counterfactuals help people to prepare for the future by understanding intentions and making decisions.

[ANS] c

Question 91:

Direction: The following paragraph consists of four sentences, three of which form a coherent paragraph when arranged in the correct order. Identify the one that is not part of the paragraph.

While flying remains the safest form of transport, our atavistic brains are densely resistant to the force of statistics, and it’s hard to believe that anything other than some dark magic is lifting these 500-tonne metal monsters into the sky.
While no two aviophobics are the same, fear tends to coalesce around phobias of distance – vertigo and agoraphobia- and constriction claustrophobia, and concerns about an inability to escape.
Flying is a magnet for our vulnerability, for our fear of death, for our existential panic, and every story of metal fatigue, clear-air turbulence and engine failure merely serves to confirm our sense of flight as unnatural, uncomfortable and, eventually, catastrophic.
Fear of flying has become the archetypal modern phobia, the focal point of our discomforts about technology, about the pace of contemporary life, about ceding control to forces unseen and barely understood.

(a) Statement 1
(b) Statement 2
(c) Statement 3
(d) Statement 4

[ANS] b

Question 92:

Direction: Read the following sentences and arranges them in a logical order.

Competitive advantage is not something which falls from the skies like manna from Heaven.
However, according to orthodox economic theory, this should not happen, since if any single firm were able to gain an advantage at any point in time, competitive forces would rapidly ensure that this state of affairs would be purely temporary.
It has to be created and earned, but once earned, it can be used to ensure a position of enduring dominance.
Economic competition between companies, particularly large ones, bears a strong resemblance to this military world.

(a) 4132
(b) 3142
(c) 3142
(d) 1423

[ANS] a

Question 93:

Direction: Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a meaningful and coherent short paragraph. Identify the odd one out.

Choose its number as your answer and key it in.

(a) Digital marketing holds power to turn your presence into a web sensation, thereby providing you an advantage over the ones not using digital platforms for marketing.
(b) When managed effectively, it gives laser-focused control over where and how an organization spends its money.
(c) With this cost effective budget you can easily target your desired market through various online strategized platforms.
(d) Digital marketing allows businesses to compete with a much smaller advertising budget.
(e) It costs lesser than traditional media marketing and the costs are more easily amortized over time to deliver a better return on your investment.

[ANS] a

Question 94:

Direction: Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a meaningful and coherent short paragraph. Identify the odd one out.

Choose its number as your answer and key it in.

(a) Light pollution is unwanted or excessive artificial light.
(b) We think of pollution as chemicals introduced into places where they shouldn’t be.
(c) Light pollution disperses energy, and this energy disrupts the environment.
(d) Our first impulse may be to call it a nuisance, since it differs from air and water pollution.
(e) Light pollution affects the human environment in several ways.

[ANS] b

Question 95:

The passage given below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures the author’s position.

There’s nothing quite so interesting as the social interactions in the wolf pack. Wolves live in packs of about 6 to 10 members. Pack formation is possible because wolves are highly social creatures that develop strong bonds with one another. One of the ways in which wolves interact is through howling. A wolf’s howl is a vocalization, which means that it’s a sound produced in order to communicate. But what are they communicating, and with whom? Wolves howl to communicate their location to other pack members and to ward off rivalling packs from their territory. It’s also been found that wolves will howl to their own pack members out of affection, as opposed to anxiety.

(a) Howling is a mode of social interaction by which wolf packs communicate their location to rival packs or declare their affection to their own pack.
(b) Howling is the most interesting of ways in which the highly gregarious wolves interact with their rival packs or their own pack members.
(c) Wolf packs develop strong bonds within themselves and communicate through howling, both with rivalling packs and other members of the same pack.
(d) Deeply social, wolves interact through howling– with their own pack members to show affection, and with rival packs to declare their territory.

[ANS] d

Question 96:

The passage given below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures the author’s position.

Exercise is painful. When the body exerts itself, pumping action out of muscles to tear them down and build their mass, it’s left with a soreness. Doctors, coaches, and mothers all recommend heat for tense sore muscles-warm baths, moist towels, hot-water bottles, or heated pads as thermotherapy techniques. While exercising, overworked muscles and a build-up of lactic acid in the muscles are what cause the pain associated with exercising. When heat is applied to a sore area of the body, blood vessels widen and blood flow increases to transport excess lactic acid and other toxins away from tired muscles. These muscles are also made more elastic by the heat, and nerve endings are stimulated to block pain signals.

(a) Muscular pain from exercising can be alleviated by applying heat to tense, sore muscles.
(b) Thermotherapy widens blood vessels and gets rid of the built-up lactic acid from muscles.
(c) When heat is applied to a sore area of the body, nerve endings block the pain signals.
(d) Exercise is painful because of overworked muscles and a build-up of lactic acid in the muscles.

[ANS] a

Question 97:

Direction: The four sentences labelled (1, 2, 3, 4) given in this question, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Each sentence is labelled with a number. Decide on the proper sequence of order of the sentences and key in this sequence of four numbers as your answer.

(a) Customers don’t value and are less inclined to buy traditionally male products if they think they’ve been manufactured by women.
(b) In traditionally male-oriented markets goods made by women can stack up pretty negatively.
(c) There’s an assumption that a woman-made craft beer, screwdriver, or roof rack just won’t be as good.
(d) New research from Stanford researchers suggests that gender stereotyping significantly impacts the way we evaluate products.

[ANS] dbac

Question 98:

(a) In A Date with an Enfield, Butcher combines hundreds of hand-drawn frames many of them sketched to directly correspond to Google Street View images.
(b) The London Borough of Enfield’s coat of arms features a depiction of the chimeric beast it was named for: a creature with the head of a fox, the talons of an eagle and the legs of a lion.
(c) He constructs a poetic, personal rumination on the imperfections of memory.
(d) The UK filmmaker Adam Butcher, who experienced his first brush with love in the borough, considers his memory of that time similarly fragmented, comprised of emotion, fleeting recollections and images preserved in the amber of the digital realm.

[ANS] bdac

Question 99:

Direction: There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide which blank (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit in.

Attention is an extremely important resource, as important as the time we each have at our disposal.

_____ 1_____ Political economy concerns itself with the way certain resources are shared and distributed. ____ 2 ____ But it is rapidly depleted by a public space saturated with technologies that are dedicated to capturing it. _____ 3 _____ To have any intellectual originality, you must be able to extend a line of reasoning very far. _____ 4 _____ To do that, you have to protect yourself against an array of external distractions.

[ANS] c

Question 100:

Direction: There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide which blank (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit in.

For fear-induced deaths, the demise starts with our fight-or-flight response, which is the body’s physical response to a perceived threat.

_____ 1 _____ Saying “You scared me to death!” is so common, in fact, that we have to ask the question: Is it possible to be scared to death? _____2 _____ This response is characterized by an increased heart rate, anxiety, perspiration, and increased blood glucose levels. ______ 3 _____ Being scared to death boils down to our autonomic response to a strong emotion, such as fear. _____ 4 _______ In fact, any strong emotional reaction can trigger large amounts of a chemical, such as adrenaline, in the body.

[ANS] 2