Option (A) is the correct answer because ‘limited’
best fits in the first blank. Products can be
innovative and new markets can be opened up.
Hence, option (A) is the best choice. Other options
are incorrect.
Q. 2 Read the following statements and answer the
question that follows.
1. Some countries are, at least, trying to curb
emissions.
2. Morocco is building a colossal solar-power
plant in the desert.
3. States in the Middle East and North Africa can
do little on their own to mitigate climate
change.
4. Saudi Arabia is not going to stop exporting oil,
but it plans to build a solar plant that will be
about 200 times the size of the biggest such
facility operating today.
5. Politics often gets in the way of problem solving.
Arrange the above five statements in a logical
sequence.
Statement 3 is the opening sentence as it provides
a general view on the inability of the states in the
Middle East and North Africa to do a lot on their
own to mitigate climate change. Statement 5 quotes
the reason for their inability mentioned in statement
3 making 35 a pair. Despite the politics being the
hurdle in solving problem, some countries such as
Morocco and Saudi Arabia are trying to curb
emissions. Hence, the correct sequence is
3,5,1,2,4.
Q. 3 Read the following statements and answer the
question that follows.
1. Behavioral models in finance most often critique
the efficient market hypothesis, which states
that if investors behave rationally then prices
should reflect all available information about the
financial asset in consideration.
2. A number of behavioral models, including
feedback models where investors bid up the
price, have been used to explain this
phenomenon.
3. But asset price bubbles and crashes belie this
conclusion.
4. Finance is one of the fields where behavioral
models have been used extensively, enough
for behavioral finance.
5. This idea of “irrational exuberance” is now
widely accepted and used in financial analysis,
especially while analyzing asset price bubbles.
Arrange the above five statements in a logical
sequence.
4, 1, 3, 2, 5 Statement 4 is the opening sentence
of the paragraph as it provides a general view on
finance. ‘Behavioural finance’ is statement 4 is
further mentioned in statement 1 as something that
critique the eûcient market hypothesis. This
hypothesis mentioned in statement 1 is
contradicted in statement 3. Hence, option (C)
contains the correct sequence.
Q. 4 Which of the following sentences uses a WRONG
tag-question?
Option (A) is a sentence that contains negative
‘…little point...’, so the tag question is correct.
Option (B) also can said to have a correct tag
question because ‘nobody’ can refer to more that
one person. Option (C) is rather similar to option
(A) in its construction because of the use of ‘…few
reasons…’ in it, making the tag question correct.
Option (E) perfectly follows the question tag rule
of using a negative question with a positive
sentence. However, this rule is violated in option
(D) as the subject in the sentence is ‘he’ and the
main verb is ‘plays’. The correct question tag for
option (D) should be ‘Moreover, he plays well,
doesn’t it?’.
Q. 5 Read the following passage and answer the
question that follows.
The painting, which is in poor condition, suggests
that a highly advanced artistic culture existed some
44,000 years ago, punctuated by folklore, religious
myths and spiritual belief. The scene may be
regarded not only as the earliest dated figurative
art in the world but also as the oldest evidence for
the communication of a narrative in Palaeolithic
art.
"This is noteworthy, given that the ability to invent
fictional stories may have been the last and most
crucial stage in the evolutionary history of human
language and the development of modern-like
patterns of cognition" researchers said.
Which of the following can be BEST concluded
from the passage?
The options are very close to another, however,
the use of the word ‘stage’ in the second paragraph
of the given passage leads us to choose option
(C) as it contains the phrase ‘chronological context’.
For questions 6 to 8: Comprehension:
Read the following passage and answer the three
questions that follow.
Considering the multitude of situations in which we
humans use numerical information, life without numbers
is inconceivable. But what was the benefit of numerical
competence for our ancestors, before they became Homo
sapiens? Why would animals crunch numbers in the first
place? It turns out that processing numbers offers a
significant benefit for survival, which is why this behavioural
trait is present in many animal populations.
Several studies examining animals in their ecological
environments suggest that representing number enhances
an animal’s ability to exploit food sources, hunt prey,
avoid predation, navigate in its habitat, and persist in social
interactions. Before numerically competent animals
evolved on the planet, single-celled microscopic bacteria
— the oldest living organisms on earth — already exploited
quantitative information. The way bacteria make a living
is through their consumption of nutrients from their
environment. Mostly, they grow and divide themselves to
multiply. However, in recent years, microbiologists have
discovered they also have a social life and are able to
sense the presence or absence of other bacteria; in other
words, they can sense the number of bacteria. Take, for
example, the marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri. It has a
special property that allows it to produce light through a
process called bioluminescence, similar to how fireflies
give off light. If these bacteria are in dilute water solutions
(where they are alone), they make no light. But when
they grow to a certain cell number of bacteria, all of them
produce light simultaneously. Therefore, Vibrio fischeri
can distinguish when they are alone and when they are
together.
Somehow they have to communicate cell number, and it
turns out they do this using a chemical language. They
secrete communication molecules, and the concentration
of these molecules in the water increases in proportion
to the cell number. And when this molecule hits a certain
amount, called a quorum, it tells the other bacteria how
many neighbours there are, and all bacteria glow. This
behaviour is called “quorum sensing”: The bacteria vote
with signalling molecules, the vote gets counted, and if a
certain threshold (the quorum) is reached, every bacterium
responds. This behavior is not just an anomaly of Vibrio
fischeri; all bacteria use this sort of quorum sensing to
communicate their cell number in an indirect way via
signalling molecules.
Q. 6 Which of the following statements CANNOT be
inferred from the passage?
Option (A), (C) and (D) can be inferred from the
first paragraph and the first sentence of the second
paragraph of the given passage, however, it cannot
be inferred from the given passage that the
ancestors of Homo sapiens interacted only using
numbers. Hence, option (B) is the answer.
Q. 7 Based on the passage, which of the following
statements BEST defines “quorum sensing” in
bacteria?
According to the given passage ‘quorum sensing’
of bacteria happens when bacteria respond to one
another when they reach a certain number. Refer
to “And when this molecule hits a certain amount,
called a quorum, it tells the other bacteria how
many neighbours there are, and all bacteria glow.
This behaviour is called “quorum sensing”…” Option
(B) cannot be ascertained from the given passage.
It is not mentioned in the passage that bacteria
chat with one another. So, option (C) can be
eliminated. Option (D) also cannot be ascertained
from the given passage. Bacteria communicate by
signalling molecules that glow. So, option (E) can
be eliminated as well.
Q. 8 Which of the following statements is NOT based
on the premises of the passage?
Number and staying ahead of one’s opponent can
be said to be the premises of the given passage.
Options (A), (C), (D) and (E) are based on the given
premises, however, option (b) is about presenting
musical symphony. Hence, option (B) is the
answer.
For questions 9 to 11: Comprehension:
Read the following passage and answer the three
questions that follow.
Multitasking has been found to increase the production
of the stress hormone cortisol as well as the fight-orflight
hormone adrenaline, which can overstimulate your
brain and cause mental fog or scrambled thinking.
Multitasking creates a dopamine addiction feedback loop,
effectively rewarding the brain for losing focus and for
constantly searching for external stimulation. To make
matters worse, the prefrontal cortex has a novelty bias,
meaning that its attention can be easily hijacked by
something new—the proverbial shiny objects we use to
entice infants, puppies, and kittens. The irony here for
those of us who are trying to focus amid competing
activities is clear: The very brain region we need to rely
on for staying on task is easily distracted. We answer
the phone, look up something on the Internet, check our
email, send an SMS, and each of these things tweaks
the novelty-seeking, reward-seeking centers of the brain,
causing a burst of endogenous opioids (no wonder it feels
so good!), all to the detriment of our staying on task. It is
the ultimate empty-caloried brain candy. Instead of reaping
the big rewards that come from sustained, focused effort,
we instead reap empty rewards from completing a
thousand little sugarcoated tasks.
In the old days, if the phone rang and we were busy, we
either didn’t answer or we turned the ringer off. When all
phones were wired to a wall, there was no expectation of
being able to reach us at all times—one might have gone
out for a walk or be between places, and so if someone
couldn’t reach you (or you didn’t feel like being reached),
that was considered normal. Now more people have cell
phones than have toilets. This has created an implicit
expectation that you should be able to reach someone
when it is convenient for you, regardless of whether it is
convenient for them. This expectation is so ingrained that
people in meetings routinely answer their cell phones to
say, “I’m sorry, I can’t talk now, I’m in a meeting.” Just a
decade or two ago, those same people would have let a
landline on their desk go unanswered during a meeting,
so different were the expectations for reachability.
Q. 9 According to the passage, why do people in
meetings routinely answer their cell phones to say,
“I’m sorry, I can’t talk now, I’m in a meeting.”?
Refer to the last paragraph of the passage where
the author makes a distinction between landlines
and mobile phones. When landlines were used,
people had the liberty to not take a call especially
when they were out. But since nowadays, people
carry a cell phone, it is expected that they respond
to a call immediately.
Q. 10 What does the author BEST intend to convey when
he says, “Now more people have cell phones than
have toilets?”
Refer to the first three sentences of the passage
where the author mentions that multitasking
actually gives rise to losing focus. Hence, option
(E) is the most appropriate answer that can be
inferred from the passage. Furthermore, refer to
the sentence, “The very brain region we need to
rely on for staying on task is easily distracted.”
Q. 12 Read the following passage and answer the
question that follows.
Twitter is not on the masthead of a newspaper.
But Twitter has become its ultimate editor. As the
ethics and mores of that platform have become
those of the paper, the paper itself has increasingly
become a kind of performance space. Stories are
chosen and told in a way to satisfy the narrowest
of audiences, rather than to allow a curious public
to read about the world and then draw their own
conclusions.
Based on the passage, the writer’s disappointment
can be BEST summarised as:
The author mentions how the newspaper has lost
its relevance because of the advent of Twitter and
similar other platforms. The passage also describes
how the newspaper has started emulating the style
of the social media. Therefore, (C) is the most
appropriate answer.
For questions 13 and 14: Comprehension:
Read the following passage and answer the two questions
that follow.
And that has to do with the question of uncertainty and
doubt. A scientist is never certain. We all know that. We
know that all our statements are approximate statements
with different degrees of certainty; that when a statement
is made, the question is not whether it is true or false but
rather how likely it is to be true or false. We must discuss
each question within the uncertainties that are allowed.
And as evidence grows it increases the probability perhaps
that some idea is right or decreases it. But it never makes
absolutely certain one way or the other. Now, we have
found that this is of paramount importance in order to
progress. We absolutely must leave room for doubt or
there is no progress and there is no learning. There is no
learning without having to pose a question. And a question
requires doubt. People search for certainty. But there is
no certainty. People are terrified- how can you live and
not know? It is not odd at all. You only think you know as
a matter of fact. And most of your actions are based on
incomplete knowledge and you really don’t know what it
is all about or what the purpose of the world is or know a
great deal of other things. It is possible to live and not
know.
Q. 13 What does the author BEST mean when he says,
“We must discuss each question within the
uncertainties that are allowed?”
Refer to the sentence, “. And as evidence grows it
increases the probability perhaps that some idea
is right or decreases it.” Therefore, it is evident
that there is a chance of error in the evidence that
we seek. Also, refer to the sentence, “But it never
makes absolutely certain one way or the other.”
So, there is the possibility of errors in the answers
that we seek.
Q. 14 Which of the following BEST describes the
essence of the passage?
Refer to the sentences, “We absolutely must leave
room for doubt or there is no progress and there is
no learning. There is no learning without having to
pose a question. And a question requires doubt.
People search for certainty.” Thus, it can be said
that option (C) is the essence of the passage.
Q. 15 Read the following sentences and answer the
question that follows.
1. We are going to a restaurant but we haven’t
decided which one.
2. We went to the toilet behind a tree.
3. It was the November after we went to Indonesia.
4. My friend is travelling to UK.
5. She drinks medicine by a litre.
6. Would you rather go out or watch a TV.
Which of the above sentences have INCORRECT
usages of articles?
Sentences 4, 5 and 6 have an incorrect use of
articles. UK should be preceded by ‘the’. Sentence
5 is also wrongly constructed. In sentence 6, ‘a
TV’ is wrong. ‘A’ is not required.
For questions 16 and 17: Comprehension:
Read the following passage and answer the two questions
that follow.
We stand before this great world. The truth of our life
depends upon our attitude of mind towards it - an attitude
which is formed by our habit of dealing with it according
to the special circumstance of our surroundings and our
temperaments. It guides our attempts to establish
relations with the universe either by conquest or by union,
either through the cultivation of power or through that of
sympathy. And thus, in our realization of the truth of
existence, we put our emphasis either upon the principle
of dualism or upon the principle of unity.
Q. 16 Which of the following statements can be BEST
inferred from the passage?
Refer to the sentences, “The truth of our life depends
upon our attitude of mind towards it - an attitude
which is formed by our habit of dealing with it
according to the special circumstance of our
surroundings and our temperaments. It guides our
attempts to establish relations with the universe
either by conquest or by union, either through the
cultivation of power or through that of sympathy.”
Therefore, option (C) is the most appropriate
response.
Q. 17 According to the passage, our emphasis on
dualism or on unity is BEST guided by:
Refer the lines, “…an attitude which is formed by
our habit of dealing with it according to the special
circumstance of our surroundings and our
temperaments.”
For questions 18 and 19: Comprehension:
Read the following poem and answer the two questions
that follow.
Sit, drink your coffee here; your work can wait awhile.
You're twenty-six, and still have some of life ahead. No
need for wit; just talk vacuities, and I'll Reciprocate in
kind, or laugh at you instead.
The world is too opaque, distressing and profound. This
twenty minutes' rendezvous will make my day:
To sit here in the sun, with grackles all around,
Staring with beady eyes, and you two feet away.
Q. 18 Which of the following BEST captures the essence
of the poem?
The poem is essentially talking about the
importance of taking a breather in life’s busy
schedule and activities. There is no reference to
prioritizing one aspect over the other. Hence, the
other options get eliminated.
Q. 19 What does the poet BEST convey by mentioning
grackles in these lines, “…with grackles all around,
/Staring with beady eyes, and you two feet away.”?
Technically, a grackle is a a songbird of the
American blackbird family, the male of which has
shiny black plumage with a blue-green sheen. In
the poem, the reference to these birds has been
made to suggest that one should ignore the
distractions that surround us and try to enjoy the
present moment/companionship.
For questions 20 and 21: Comprehension:
Read the following excerpt and answer the two questions
that follow.
Para 1: We plan to right-size our manufacturing
operations to align to the new strategy and take advantage
of integration opportunities. We expect to focus phone
production mainly in Hanoi, with some production to
continue in Beijing and Dongguan. We plan to shift other
Microsoft manufacturing and repair operations to Manaus
and Reynosa respectively, and start a phased exit from
Komaron, Hungary.
Para 2: In short, we will focus on driving Lumia volume in
the areas where we are already successful today in order
to make the market for Windows Phone. With more
speed, we will build on our success in the affordable smart
phone space with new products offering more
differentiation. We’ll focus on acquiring new customers
in the markets where Microsoft’s services and products
are most concentrated. And, we will continue building
momentum around applications.
Para 3: We plan that this would result in an estimated
reduction of 12500 factory direct and professional
employees over the next year. These decisions are difficult
for the team, and we plan to support departing team
members with severance benefits.
Q. 20 Which of the following can be BEST described as
the core message of the excerpt?
The passage has two central themes: 1. There are
plans to downsize in certain regions and
discontinue operations in other areas. 2. The step
is not a defensive one but rather a realignment
with the shift in strategies. Option (A) captures
both these aspects comprehensively. Option (B)
captures only a part of the main message. The
reference to ‘poorly performing’ makes option (C)
incorrect. Similarly, options (D) and (E) are only
partially correct.
The second paragraph discusses the future plans
and the focus of the organization; its goals and
targets. Thus, it aims to reassure its stakeholders
and look to the future. There is no indication of
panic being generated.
For questions 22 to 24: Comprehension:
Read the following passage and answer the three
questions that follow.
Most of recorded human history is one big data gap.
Starting with the theory of Man the Hunter, the chroniclers
of the past have left little space for women’s role in the
evolution of humanity, whether cultural or biological.
Instead, the lives of men have been taken to represent
those of humans overall. When it comes to the lives of
the other half of humanity, there is often nothing but
silence.
And these silences are everywhere. Our entire culture is
riddled with them. Films, news, literature, science, city
planning, economics. The stories we tell ourselves about
our past, present and future. They are all marked—
disfigured—by a female-shaped ‘absent presence’. This
is the gender data gap.
The gender data gap isn’t just about silence. These
silences, these gaps, have consequences. They impact
on women’s lives every day. The impact can be relatively
minor. Shivering in offices set to a male temperature norm,
for example, or struggling to reach a top shelf set at a
male height norm. Irritating, certainly. Unjust, undoubtedly.
But not life-threatening. Not like crashing in a car whose
safety measures don’t account for women’s
measurements. Not like having your heart attack go
undiagnosed because your symptoms are deemed
‘atypical’. For these women, the consequences of living
in a world built around male data can be deadly.
One of the most important things to say about the gender
data gap is that it is not generally malicious, or even
deliberate. Quite the opposite. It is simply the product of
a way of thinking that has been around for millennia and
is therefore a kind of not thinking. A double not thinking,
even: men go without saying, and women don’t get said
at all. Because when we say human, on the whole, we
mean man.
This is not a new observation. Simone de Beauvoir made
it most famously when in 1949 she wrote, ‘humanity is
male and man defines woman not in herself, but as relative
to him; she is not regarded as an autonomous being. […]
He is the Subject, he is the Absolute—she is the Other.’
What is new is the context in which women continue to
be ‘the Other’. And that context is a world increasingly
reliant on and in thrall to data. Big Data. Which in turn is
panned for Big Truths by Big Algorithms, using Big
Computers. But when your big data is corrupted by big
silences, the truths you get are half-truths, at best. And
often, for women, they aren’t true at all. As computer
scientists themselves say: ‘Garbage in, garbage out.’
Q. 22 Based on the passage, which of the following
statements BEST explains “absent presence”?
The reference to ‘absent present’ is made in the
second paragraph of the passage. The paragraph
refers to the silences that are present with respect
to the voices of women; the fact that one part of
the narrative is missing from all culture. Thus, option
(C) is the best summarization of this idea.
Q. 23 Based on the passage, which of the following
options BEST describes “double not thinking”?
Refer to the concluding lines of the passage, “But
when your big data is corrupted by big silences,
the truths you get are half-truths, at best. And often,
for women, they aren’t true at all.”
Q. 25 Read the following sentences and answer the
question that follows.
1. In my opinion, Tom Jones is a picaresque novel.
2. According to me, Tom Jones is a
bildungsroman.
3. The books were distributed between Jessica,
Neha and Swati.
4. The books were distributed among Jessica and
Neha.
5. Life teaches us important lessons.
6. The life moves forward, teaches backward.
Which of the above sentences are grammatically
CORRECT?
Sentences 1, 3 and 5 are grammatically correct.
Picaresque relates to an episodic style of fiction
dealing with the adventures of a rough and
dishonest but appealing hero.
Q. 26 Read the following passage and answer the
question that follows.
We can think of the history of life on earth as a
vast, long-term experiment in pure competition.
Every living organism is competing with all other
living organisms for resources (nutrients, sunlight,
water, territory, etc.). Nature, or the natural world,
is a laboratory of unfettered competition. It’s a dogeat-
dog, no-holds-barred, day-in and day-out
struggle.
There are no governmental regulators to protect
the weak or favor the strong. All organisms are
given a chance, but not necessarily an equal
chance. As the climate and the environment
change (and change they do), some organisms
are favored over others at times, but these
advantages are fleeting. What nature gives, nature
can take away.
Which of the following can be BEST concluded
from the passage?
Refer the lines, “Nature, or the natural world, is a
laboratory of unfettered competition. It’s a dog-eatdog,
no-holds-barred, day-in and day-out struggle.”
Thus, we can conclude that competition is the
inalienable reality of the world around us. Presence
of competition does not indicate absence of
forgiveness.
