Directions for questions 1 to 3: Please read the passage
below and answer the questions that follow:
If history doesn't follow any stable rules, and if we cannot
predict its future course, why study it? It often seems that
the chief aim of science is to predict the future -
meteorologists are expected to forecast whether tomorrow
will bring rain or sunshine; economists should know whether
devaluing the currency will avert or precipitate an economic
crisis; good doctors foresee whether chemotherapy or
radiation therapy will be more successful in curing lung
cancer. Similarly, historians are asked to examine the
actions of our ancestors so that we can repeat their wise
decisions and avoid their mistakes. But it never works
like that because the present is just too different from the
past. It is a waste of time to study Hannibal's tactics in
the Second Punic War so as to copy them in the Third
World War. What worked well in cavalry battles will not
necessarily be of much benefit in cyber warfare. Science
is not just about predicting the future, though. Scholars in
all fields often seek to broaden our horizons, thereby
opening before us new and unknown futures. This is
especially true of history. Though historians occasionally
try their hand at prophecy (without notable success), the
study of history aims above all to make us aware of
possibilities we don't normally consider. Historians study
the past not in order to repeat it, but in order to be liberated
from it. Each and every one of us has been born into a
given historical reality, ruled by particular norms and values,
and managed by a unique economic and political system.
We take this reality for granted, thinking it is natural,
inevitable and immutable. We forget that our world was
created by an accidental chain of events, and that history
shaped not only our technology, politics and society, but
also our thoughts, fears and dreams. The cold hand of the
past emerges from the grave of our ancestors, grips us by
the neck and directs our gaze towards a single future. We
have felt that grip from the moment we were born, so we
assume that it is a natural and inescapable part of who
we are. Therefore we seldom try to shake ourselves free,
and envision alternative futures. Studying history aims to
loosen the grip of the past. It enables us to turn our head
this way and that, and begin to notice possibilities that
our ancestors could not imagine, or didn't want us to
imagine. By observing the accidental chain of events that
led us here, we realise how our very thoughts and dreams
took shape - and we can begin to think and dream
differently. Studying history will not tell us what to choose,
but at least it gives us more options.
Q. 1 Based on the passage, which of the following
options would be the most appropriate for citizens
to learn history?
Refer to this line-"Each and every one of us has been born into a given historical reality, ruled by particular norms and values, and managed by a unique economic and political system." This clearly states that if one has to learn about the past one should trace it from its origin. Therefore we can say that if we change the British names of streets in India and change to Indian names along with an explanation of their history we will be able to learn more about our ancestors.
Q. 2 Which of the following options is the closest to the
essence of the passage?
Option E is correct since the passage states that history makes us aware of many things and provides us different options. It shapes "not only our technology, politics and
society, but also our thoughts, fears and dreams.
Q. 3 Read the following sentences:
1. A historian successfully predicted a political
crisis based on similar events of the last
century.
2. Using the latest technology, doctors could
decipher the microbe causing the disease.
3. Students who prepared for an examination by
perusing past 10 years' question papers did not
do well in the examination.
4. A tribe in Andaman learns to predict epidemic
outbreaks by listening to the stories of how their
ancestors predicted the past outbreaks.
Which of the statement(s) above, if true would
contradict the view of the author?
Read the following statement- "Similarly, historians are asked to examine the actions of our ancestors so that we can repeat their wise decisions and avoid their mistakes.
But it never works like that because the present is just too different from the past." So the argument will be weakened if we challenge the application of the predictability. Statements 1 and 4, state the opposite of this and will weaken the
argument. Hence D is the correct answer.
Directions for questions 4 to 7: Please read the passage
below and answer the questions that follow:
Rene Descartes' assertion that ideas may be held true
with certainty if they are "clear and distinct" provides the
context for Peirce's title, "How to Make Our Ideas Clear."
Peirce argued that an idea may seem clear if it is familiar.
Distinctness depends on having good definitions, and while
definitions are desirable they do not yield any new
knowledge or certainty of the truth of empirical propositions.
Peirce argues that thought needs more than a sense of
clarity; it also needs a method for making ideas clear.
Once we have made an idea clear, then we can begin the
task of determining its truth. The method that Peirce offers
came to be known as the pragmatic method and the
epistemology on which it depends is pragmatism. Peirce
rejected Descartes' method of doubt. We cannot doubt
something, for the sake of method, that we do not doubt
in fact. In a later essay, he would state as his rule "Dismiss
make-believes." This refers to Descartes' method of
doubting things, in the safety of his study, such things as
the existence of the material world, which he did not doubt
when he went out on the street. Peirce proposed that a
philosophical investigation can begin from only one state
of mind, namely, the state of mind in which we find
ourselves when we begin. If any of us examines our state
of mind, we find two kinds of thoughts: beliefs and doubts.
Peirce had presented the interaction of doubt and belief in
an earlier essay "The Fixation of Belief". Beliefs and doubts
are distinct. Beliefs consist of states of mind in which we
would make a statement; doubts are states in which we
would ask a question. We experience a doubt as a sense
of uneasiness and hesitation. Doubt serves as an irritant
that causes us to appease it by answering a question and
thereby fixing a belief and putting the mind to rest on that
issue. A common example of a doubt would be arriving in
an unfamiliar city and not being sure of the location of our
destination address in relation to our present location.
We overcome this doubt and fix a belief by getting the
directions. Once we achieve a belief, we can take the
necessary action to reach our destination. Peirce defines
a belief subjectively as something of which we are aware
and which appeases the doubt. Objectively, a belief is a
rule of action. The whole purpose of thought consists in
overcoming a doubt and attaining a belief. Peirce
acknowledges that some people like to think about things
or argue about them without caring to find a true belief,
but he asserts that such dilettantism does not constitute
thought. The beliefs that we hold determine how we will
act. If we believe, rightly or wrongly, that the building that
we are trying to reach sits one block to our north, we will
walk in that direction. We have beliefs about matters of
fact, near and far. For example, we believe in the real
objects in front of us and we believe generally accepted
historical statements. We also believe in relations of ideas
such as that seven and five equal twelve. In addition to
these we have many beliefs about science, politics,
economics, religion and so on. Some of our beliefs may
be false since we are capable of error. To believe something
means to think that it is true.
Q. 4 According to Peirce, for a particular thought, which
of the following statements will be correct?
Refer to this line form the passage- "Doubt serves as an irritant that causes us to appease it by answering a question and thereby fixing a belief and putting the mind to rest on that issue." This clearly states that according to Peirce, doubt will always lead to a belief. The official answer key is given as A - "may lead to belief". But the passage strongly supports B.
Q. 5 "A candidate has applied for XAT". According to
Peirce, it indicates that:
According to Pierce, without proper belief in something
someone shouldn't commit into something. Therefore if the candidate has applied for Xat, he believes in its application process. All other options are far-fetched assumptions which may or may not be true.
Q. 6 Which of the following words is the closest in
meaning to "dilettantism"?
According to the passage, "….acknowledges that some people like to think about things or argue about them without caring to find a true belief, but he asserts that such
dilettantism.." This makes option C, 'guess', correct.
Q. 7 A person thinks that s/he has to keep awake for
twenty hours in a day to score well in an
examination, but is awake for only fifteen hours.
For the above statement, which of the following
options will be right, according to Peirce?
The entire passage says that if a person has a true belief, he/she will follow it. So, option B is correct as this person doesn't execute his plan.
Directions for questions 8 to 10: Please read the
passage below and answer the questions that follow:
It is sometimes said that consciousness is a mystery in
the sense that we have no idea what it is. This is clearly
not true. What could be better known to us than our own
feelings and experiences? The mystery of consciousness
is not what consciousness is, but why it is. Modern brain
imaging techniques have provided us with a rich body of
correlations between physical processes in the brain and
the experiences had by the person whose brain it is. We
know, for example, that a person undergoing stimulation
in her or his ventromedial hypothalamus feels hunger. The
problem is that no one knows why these correlations hold.
It seems perfectly conceivable that ventromedial
hypothalamus stimulation could do its job in the brain
without giving rise to any kind of feeling at all. No one has
even the beginnings of an explanation of why some
physical systems, such as the human brain, have
experiences. This is the difficulty David Chalmers famously
called "the hard problem of consciousness". Materialists
hope that we will one day be able to explain consciousness
in purely physical terms. But this project now has a long
history of failure. The problem with materialist approaches
to the hard problem is that they always end up avoiding
the issue by redefining what we mean by "consciousness”.
They start off by declaring that they are going to solve the
hard problem, to explain experience; but somewhere along
the way they start using the word "consciousness? to
refer not to experience but to some complex behavioural
functioning associated with experience, such as the ability
of a person to monitor their internal states or to process
information about the environment. Explaining complex
behaviours is an important scientific endeavour. But the
hard problem of consciousness cannot be solved by
changing the subject. In spite of these difficulties, many
scientists and philosophers maintain optimism that
materialism will prevail. At every point in this glorious
history, it is claimed, philosophers have declared that
certain phenomena are too special to be explained by
physical science – light, chemistry, life – only to be
subsequently proven wrong by the relentless march of
scientific progress. Before Galileo it was generally
assumed that matter had sensory qualities: tomatoes were
red, paprika was spicy, flowers were sweetsmelling. How
could an equation capture the taste of spicy paprika’ And
if sensory qualities can't be captured in a mathematical
vocabulary, it seemed to follow that a mathematical
vocabulary could never capture the complete nature of
matter. Galileo's solution was to strip matter of its sensory
qualities and put them in the soul (as we might put it, in
the mind). The sweet smell isn't really in the flowers, but
in the soul (mind) of the person smelling them … Even
colours for Galileo aren't on the surfaces of the objects
themselves, but in the soul of the person observing them.
And if matter in itself has no sensory qualities, then it's
possible in principle to describe the material world in the
purely quantitative vocabulary of mathematics. This was
the birth of mathematical physics. But of course Galileo
didn't deny the existence of the sensory qualities. If Galileo
were to time travel to the present day and be told that
scientific materialists are having a problem explaining
consciousness in purely physical terms, he would no doubt
reply, "Of course they do, I created physical science by
taking consciousness out of the physical world!"
Q. 8 Which of the following statements captures the
essence of the passage?
Refer to the 3rd paragraph- "Materialists hope that we will one day be able to explain consciousness in purely physical terms. But this project now has a long history of failure.
The problem with materialist approaches to the hard problem is that they always end up avoiding the issue by redefining what we mean by 'consciousness." Even the example of Galileo explains the same. The entire passage deals with this argument.
Q. 9 Which of the following options would most likely
be an example of the hard problem?
Both B and E can be called hard problems in the context of the passage. They defy materialistic conception. One cannot answer these questions consciously and conclusively.
All other options can be answered with materialistic
approach.
Q. 10 Which of the following statements can be inferred
from the passage?
Option D is the correct answer as all other options present extreme statements. There are no bases to make such
inferences. Arguing that science and consciousness are two different domains is the only inference that can be made.
Directions for questions 11 to 13: Please read the
passage below and answer the questions that follow:
Labor and capital are the opposite poles of capitalist
society. This polarity begins in each enterprise and is
realized on a national and even international scale as a
giant duality of classes which dominates the social
structure. And yet this polarity is incorporated in a
necessary identity between the two. Whatever its form,
whether as money or commodities or means of production,
capital is labor: it is labor that has been performed in the
past, the objectified product of preceding phases of the
cycle of production which becomes capital only through
appropriation by the capitalist and its use in the
accumulation of more capital. At the same time, as living
labor which is purchased by the capitalist to set the
production process into motion, labor is capital. That
portion of money capital which is set aside for the payment
of labor, the portion which in each cycle is converted into
living labor power, is the portion of capital which stands for
and corresponds to the working population, and upon which
the latter subsists. Before it is anything else, therefore,
the working class is the animate part of capital, the part
which will set in motion the process that yields to the
total capital its increment of surplus value. As such, the
working class is first of all, raw material for exploitation.
This working class lives a social and political existence of
its own, outside the direct grip of capital. It protests and
submits, rebels or is integrated into bourgeois society,
sees itself as a class or loses sight of its own existence,
in accordance with the forces that act upon it and the
moods, conjunctures, and conflicts of social and political
life. But since, in its permanent existence, it is the living
part of capital, its occupational structure, modes of work,
and distribution through the industries of society are
determined by the ongoing processes of the accumulation
of capital. It is seized, released, flung into various parts of
the social machinery and expelled by others, not in accord
with its own will or self-activity, but in accord with the
movement of capital.
Q. 11 While labor is capital, it is poles apart from each
other because:
"Materialists hope that we will one day be able to explain consciousness in purely physical terms. But this project now has a long history of failure. The problem with materialist approaches to the hard problem is that they always end up avoiding the issue by redefining what we mean by
'consciousness'." This clearly justifies that the will of labour is limited. The capitalists control the capital. Therefore they control labour
Q. 12 According to the passage, what does the working
class subsists on?
The passage states- "living labor which is purchased by the capitalist to set the production process into motion, labor is capital. That portion of money capital which is set aside for the payment of labor, the portion which in each cycle is converted into living labor power, is the portion of capital which stands for and corresponds to the working
population, and upon which the latter subsists." This clearly makes option E correct.
Q. 13 Which of the following statements will be true,
according to the passage?
Refer to the 2nd last line of the given passage- "But since, in its permanent existence, it is the living part of capital, its occupational structure, modes of work, and distribution through the industries of society are determined by the
on-going processes of the accumulation of capital."
This sentence clearly makes option D the correct answer.
Q. 14 Read the Following statements and answer the
question that follows:
1. But its most advanced formulation is called
superstring theory, which even predicts the
precise number of dimensions: ten.
2. However, the theory has already swept across
the major physics research laboratories of the
world and has irrevocably altered the scientific
landscape of modern physics, generating a
staggering number of research papers in the
scientific literature (over 5,000 by one count).
3. Scientifically, the hyperspace theory goes by
the names of Kaluza-Klein theory and
supergravity.
4. The usual three dimensions of space (length,
width, and breadth) and one of time are now
extended by six more spatial dimensions.
5. We caution that the theory of hyperspace has
not yet been experimentally confirmed and
would, in fact, be exceedingly difficult to prove
in the laboratory.
Rank the above five statements so as to make it a
logical sequence:
Statement 3 opens the paragraph as it introduces
hyperspace theory. Statements 3 and 1 form a mandatory pair since the use of 'its' in 1 is a reference to hyperspace theory. Next follows statement 4, as it mentions three
dimensions out of the 'ten' stated in 1. Statements 5 and 2 also form a mandatory pair as 5 states that the theory has not been confirmed yet, while 2 states that even though it has not been confirmed, it has spread across the major physics research. Hence, 3,1,4,5,2 is the correct sequence.
Q. 15 Read the Following statements and answer the
question that follows:
1. It is less appealing, but morally more urgent, to
understand the actions of the perpetrators.
2. It is easy to sanctify policies or identities by
the deaths of the victims.
3. The victims were people; a true identification
with them would involve grasping their lives rather
than grasping at their deaths.
4. The moral danger, after all, is never that one
might become a victim but that one might be a
perpetrator or a bystander.
5. By definition the victims are dead, and unable
to defend themselves from the use that others
make of their deaths.
Rank the above five statements so as to make it a
logical sequence:
It opens with sentence 3 stating about the victims whose true identification would involve grasping their lives rather than grasping at their deaths. It is followed by 5 which states that the victims who are now dead are unable to defend people's perceptions about their death. 2 follows 5 justifying the previous sentence. 1 and 4 form a mandatory pair
describing the role of the perpetrators.
Q. 16 Read the following paragraph and answer the
question that follows:
Arti is planning for higher studies and her future
goals include working as a manager of a non-profit
organization designed to provide assistance to
under-represented populations. Arti researched the
mission statements of various colleges and
discovered that college X, a small private college
with a fee of Rs. 8 lakhs per year, was dedicated to
producing compassionate and curious leaders.
College Y, a large institute with a fee of Rs. 9 lakh
per year, promoted itself as a leading research
facility. Based on her research, she decided to
apply to college X rather than College Y.
Which of the following options is the most likely
explanation of Arti's decision?
According to the given argument, Arti chose the college whose mission statements were in alignment with her own future plans. Hence, option D, which explains the same is the correct answer.
Q. 17 Carefully read the following statement:
The payoff from ________ in education is so ______
and _______ that it is almost ________ as a
predictor of economic change over a five to ten year
period.
Fill in the blanks meaningfully, in the above
statement, from the following options.
The 1st blank should respond to the word payoff.
One expects payoff from a certain investment. This
eliminates options A, B and C. He correct word for the next blank would be 'slow' instead of small because payoff is a time related issue. The following blank should complement the previous blank 'slow'. Out if the given choices Option D contains the word 'erratic' which fits the blank correctly.
Q. 18 Carefully read the following paragraphs:
The Lannisters had ______ gold than the Tyrells
until the Lannister army sacked Highgarden and
took the Tyrell fortune to pay back the Iron Bank.
On the other hand, the Northern army has ______
than 10,000 men and therefore, Jon needs to bend
the knee to Daenerys. What happens in the story
next is dependent on George R. Martin, the writer
of the series. For ______, he has not written
anything further and we hope George R. Martin will
get around to finishing the book _______. But as it
happens, ________, book releases are delayed.
Fill in the blanks meaningfully, in the above
paragraph, from the following options.
The first blank will take 'less' and not 'fewer' as gold is not countable. Since number of men can be counted, therefore second blank will take 'fewer'. Blank 3 will take 'some time' as it refers to a period of time. Blank 4 will take 'sometime' as it refers to some point of time. Blank 5 will take 'sometimes' as it refers to 'occurrence of something occasionally.
Q. 19 Which of the following sentences contains correct
and meaningful usage of the underlined words?
The word unique cannot be used. B is wrong because of double negation. This eliminates options A, C and D. E uses the wrong conjunction 'and'. This makes 'C' the only correct answer.
Q. 20 Read the following poem and answer the questions
that follow:
A spirit that lives in this world and does not wear
the shirt of love, such an existence in a deep
disgrace.
Be foolish in love, because love is all there is.
There is no way into presence except through love
exchange.
If someone asks, But what is love? Answer,
dissolving the will.
True freedom comes to those who have escaped
the question of freewill and fate.
Love is an emperor. The two worlds play across
him. He barely notices their tumbling game.
Love and lover live in eternity. Other desires are
substitute for that way of being.
How long do you lay embracing a corpse? Love
rather the soul, which cannot be held.
Anything born in spring dies in the fall, but love is
not seasonal.
With wine pressed from grapes, expect a hangover.
But this love path has no expectations. You are
uneasy riding the body?
Dismount, travel lighter. Wings will be given.
Be clear like mirror holding nothing.
Be clean of pictures and the worry that comes with
images.
Gaze into what is not ashamed or afraid of any
truth.
Contain all human faces in your own without any
judgment of them.
Be pure emptiness. What is inside of that? You
ask. Silence is all I can say.
Lovers have some secrets they keep.
How are the words "freewill", "fate" and "will" used
in the poem above?
The given poem talks about love which should come
naturally to human beings. One doesn't require 'will', and one should escape the question of 'freewill' and 'fate' to
understand the real meaning of love.
Q. 21 Read the following poem and answer the questions
that follow:
A spirit that lives in this world and does not wear
the shirt of love, such an existence in a deep
disgrace.
Be foolish in love, because love is all there is.
There is no way into presence except through love
exchange.
If someone asks, But what is love? Answer,
dissolving the will.
True freedom comes to those who have escaped
the question of freewill and fate.
Love is an emperor. The two worlds play across
him. He barely notices their tumbling game.
Love and lover live in eternity. Other desires are
substitute for that way of being.
How long do you lay embracing a corpse? Love
rather the soul, which cannot be held.
Anything born in spring dies in the fall, but love is
not seasonal.
With wine pressed from grapes, expect a hangover.
But this love path has no expectations. You are
uneasy riding the body?
Dismount, travel lighter. Wings will be given.
Be clear like mirror holding nothing.
Be clean of pictures and the worry that comes with
images.
Gaze into what is not ashamed or afraid of any
truth.
Contain all human faces in your own without any
judgment of them.
Be pure emptiness. What is inside of that? You
ask. Silence is all I can say.
Lovers have some secrets they keep.
Which of the following is the closest interpretation
of "lovers have some secrets that they keep"?
The corresponding lines in the poem possess a mildly
sarcastic ton e which actually reveals that the secret is not to have any secret. Hence option B is the correct answer.
Q. 22 Read the following paragraph and answer the
question that follows:
The size of oceanic waves is a function of the velocity
of the wind and of fetch, the length of the surface of
the water subject to those winds. The average
impact of waves against a coastline is a function of
the size of the waves and the shape of the sea
bottom. The degree of erosionon coastline is a
function of the average impact of waves and the
geologic composition of the coastline.
According to the above paragraph, which of the
following options will be true?
"The average impact of waves against a coastline is a
function of the size of the waves and the shape of the sea bottom". This clearly states that the degree of erosion is related to the shape of the sea-bottom. Hence E is the
correct answer.
Q. 23 Read the following paragraph and answer the
question that follows:
Indian religious and ethical space is different from
that of the western countries. The Vedas, the
Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana,
and the Mahabharata etc. enrich Indian religious
and social space. Details of the treatment of human
values and Dharmas have a long tradition. They
are often compared, contrasted and debated by
the characters in the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata. In the process, it has given birth to a
tradition of dharma, which has been transferred from
generation to generation. Ethical discourse was not
a one-time affair. From time to time, religious leaders
from various regions of India nourished and
strengthened the Indian ethical arena. Tiruvalluvar
(second century B.C.), Kabir from Uttar Pradesh
(fifteenth century A.D.), Nanak from Punjab (fifteenth
century A.D), Alvars and Nayanmars of Tamil Nadu
(eighth century A.D.), Basaveswara of Karnataka
(Twelfth century A.D.), Sri Chaitanya (Sixteenth
century) were prominent.
Which of the following assumptions will make the
above paragraph redundant?
"Indian religious and ethical space is different from that of the western countries." The opening line of the paragraph clearly states that Indian ethical values are different from the
Western values. Hence option E is the correct answer.
Q. 24 Read the following statement:
A manager seeks approval for conducting a training
programme on 'openness'. He puts forward the
following arguments in favour of the program to his
CEO.
Which of the following arguments is the least likely
to have a logical fallacy?
The given argument stresses on 'openness'. However,
all option A, B, D and E are limiting that sense of openness.
A limits to one participant. B idolizes one consultant. D also sets a constraint (only two options). E also restricts as it states 'you should'. Option C sets no such limitations or
restrictions and hence adheres to 'openness'.
Q. 25 Read the following paragraph:
"Music probably does something interesting,"
explains neuropsychologist Catherine Loveday of
the University of Westminster. "It stimulates the
brain in a very powerful way, because of our
emotional connection with it." Unlike brain-games,
playing an instrument is a rich and complex
experience. This is because it's integrating
information from senses like vision, hearing, and
touch, along with fine movements. This can result
in long-lasting changes in the brain. This can also
be applicable in the business world.
Go through the following statements:
1. Playing a musical instrument is a unique
experience involving vision, hearing and touch.
2. Instrumental musicians are far more creative
than vocalists.
3. Playing brain games does not integrate various
senses and movements as much as playing a
musical instrument.
4. Integrating the five senses is critical in the
business world.
Which of the above statements can definitely be
interpreted based on the passage above?
"Unlike brain-games, playing an instrument is a rich and
complex experience. This is because it's integrating information from senses like vision, hearing, and touch, along with fine movements." This sentence from the given paragraph clearly states that Music involves our senses more than brain games.
Q. 26 Carefully read the following statement:
Though he thought of himself as a/an ______
person, his boss's abusive behaviour made him talk
back. However, as he engaged in a/an _______
with his boss, all he got in response was a/an
_______, which only filled him with _____
Fill in the blanks meaningfully, in the above
statement, from the following options:
Nonchalant and insouciant are synonyms. Remonstration refers to a protest. Philippic refers to a verbal showdown. These are synonymous too. "Ennui" refers to a kind of depression. So, it is the only word that fits the last blank.
So the choice is between A and B. One doesn't engage in a remonstration but one can engage in a philippic. So, option B is actually a better choice. The official answer key shows the answer as A.
