“Had better” which is a modal auxiliary verb is
always followed by a verb in the infinitive form.
Hence, option (5) is correct.
Q. 2 Read the following sentences and answer the
question that follows:
1. I have good knowledge of German.
2. Except for Rajiv, everybody was there.
3. Whole Delhi was celebrating Independence
Day.
4. Neither the dog, nor is the cat responsible for
this mess.
5. He knows to swim.
6. I look forward to seeing you.
Sentence 1 should have been “I have a good
knowledge of German.”
Sentence 3 should have been “The whole of Delhi
was celebrating Independence Day.”
Sentence 5 should have been “He knows how to
swim.”
Q. 3 Carefully read the paragraph below:
__________, medicine has been operated by trial
and error, in other words, __________. We know
by now that there can be entirely_________
connections between symptoms and treatment,
and some medications succeed in medical trials
for mere random reasons.
From the options below, choose the one that MOST
appropriately fills up the blanks.
“Trial and error” refers to an arbitrary process.
Hence, option (5) is the most appropriate. The third
blank will take a word which refers to a chance
happening. Hence, “fortuitous” is the most
appropriate for the third blank.
Q. 4 Carefully read the paragraph below:
A map is a useful metaphor for our brain when
talking about _______ because at its most basic
level our brain __________to be our atlas of sorts,
a system of routes _______to navigate us toward
just one destination: staying alive!
From the options below, choose the set that MOST
appropriately fills up the blanks.
A brain evolving to something makes sense.
Furthermore, a certain system is designed to
navigate. So, option (1) is the most appropriate.
Q. 5 Go through the statements below and answer the
question that follows:
P. Surabhi’s Instagram profile has 1.4 million
followers. It is filled with pictures of her posing
in different settings.
Q. In India, reports suggest that WhatsApp (Much
more than Facebook or Twitter) is the primary
tool for the dissemination of political
communication.
R. Political campaigns pay social media
companies to promote their content.
S. Political advertising on social media comes in
many forms and remains underexamined in
India.
T. Social media influencers are used for the
dissemination of content.
Which of the following combinations is the MOST
logically ordered?
SR is a mandatory pair. R logically follows S.
Similarly, QT is a mandatory pair. Q talks about
the dissemination of political communication. T
talks about the same theme as well.
For questions 6 to 8: Comprehension:Read the passage below and answer the 3 associated
questions:
It’s as if someone were out there making up pointless
jobs just for the sake of keeping us all working. And here,
precisely, lies the mystery. In capitalism, this is precisely
what is not supposed to happen. Sure, in the old inefficient
socialist states like the Soviet Union, where employment
was considered both a right and a sacred duty, the system
made up as many jobs as it had to. (This is why in Soviet
department stores it took three clerks to sell a piece of
meat.) But, of course, this is the very sort of problem
market competition is supposed to fix. According to
economic theory, at least, the last thing a profit-seeking
firm is going to do is shell out money to workers they
don’t really need to employ. Still, somehow, it happens.
While corporations may engage in ruthless downsizing,
the layoffs and speed-ups invariably fall on that class of
people who are actually making, moving, fixing, and
maintaining things. Through some strange alchemy no
one can quite explain, the number of salaried paper
pushers ultimately seems to expand, and more and more
employees find themselves’ not unlike Soviet workers,
actually’ working forty- or even fifty-hour weeks on paper
but effectively working fifteen hours just as Keynes
predicted, since the rest of their time is spent organizing
or attending motivational seminars, updating their
Facebook profiles, or downloading TV box sets. The
answer clearly isn’t economic: it’s moral and political.
The ruling class has figured out that a happy and
productive population with free time on their hands is a
mortal danger. (Think of what started to happen when
this even began to be approximated in the sixties.) And,
on the other hand, the feeling that work is a moral value
in itself, and that anyone not willing to submit themselves
to some kind of intense work discipline for most of their
waking hours deserves nothing, is extraordinarily
convenient for them.
Q. 6 Which of the following options, if true, BEST makes
the author’s assertion on pointless jobs erroneous?
The author mentions in the passage, “… the last
thing a profit-seeking firm is going to do is shell
out money to workers they don’t really need to
employ.” Option (1) goes against the spirit of the
aforementioned sentence and hence, it is the
answer.
Q. 7 Which of the following can be BEST inferred from
the passage?
Option (1) cannot be inferred because the ruling
class does not encourage creation of unwanted
jobs. In fact, the ruling class simply wants to keep
the employees occupied and thus option (4) can
be inferred from “The ruling class has figured out
that a happy and productive population with free
time on their hands is a mortal danger.” Options
(2) and (5) cannot be inferred.
Q. 8 Which of the following statements will BEST explain
the principle underlying the theme of the passage?
Option (1) is not true. Options (3), (4) and (5) cannot
be the theme (s) of the passage because the
meaninglessness of the human’s involvement in
some activity or work, which is mentioned in the
beginning of the passage, is not found in any of
these three options. Therefore, the only option that
can best explain the principle underlying the theme
of the passage is option (2).
For questions 9 and 10: Comprehension:
Read the poem below and answer the 2 associated
questions:
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But, if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To know that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
Q. 9 Which of the following statements will the poet
agree with the MOST?
The poem does not contain the word ‘greed’,
however, we can interpret desire as one kind of
greed. Furthermore, the poet says that he approves
of those who favour fire and also it is said in the
first line of the poem that according to some people
fire will destroy the world. Thus, the poet will agree
with option (1) the most.
Q. 10 Which is the MOST UNSUITABLE title of the
poem?
Option (1) can be the best title if words ‘fire’ and
‘ice’ are considered literally. Option (2) can also
be the title because the poem is imaginary and
thus hypothetical in nature. Both options (4) and
(5) can partly be the titles of the poem as well
because the words such as ‘ends’ and the
synonym of ‘hate’, which is ‘detest’ are found in
these two options. Option (3) is the most unsuitable
title of the given poem because fire and ice are not
emotions.
For questions 11 to 13: Comprehension:
Read the passage below and answer the 3 associated
questions:
There is nothing spectacularly new in the situation. Most
old-societies-turned-young-nation-states learn to live in a
world dominated by the psychology and culture of exile.
For some, the twentieth century has been a century of
refugees. Others like Hannah Arendt have identified
refugees as virtually a new species of human being who
have come to symbolize the distinctive violence of our
time. Refugees as contemporary symbols, however,
proclaim something more than a pathology of a global
nation-state system. They also represent a state of mind,
a form of psychological displacement that has become
endemic to modernizing societies. One does not even
have to cross national frontiers to become a refugee; one
can choose to be seduced by the ‘pull’ of self-induced
displacement rather than be ‘pushed’ by an oppressive
or violent system at home. It is this changed status of
territoriality in human life that explains why, in immigrant
societies like the United States, the metaphor of exile is
now jaded. Some have already begun to argue that human
beings need not have a ‘home’ as it has been traditionally
understood in large parts of the world, that the idea itself
is a red herring. While the idea of exile begins to appear
trite in intellectual circles, an increasingly large proportion
of the world is getting reconciled to living with the labile
sense of self. Exile no longer seems a pathology or an
affliction. Displacement and the psychology of exile are
in; cultural continuities and settled communities are out;
there is a touch of ennui about them.
Q. 11 Which of the following options is CLOSEST to the
meaning of the phrase “labile sense of self”?
The word ‘labile’ means easily changeable or
adaptable; so, option (1) is the closest to the
meaning of the phrase “labile sense of self” as used
in the passage.
Q. 12 Based on the passage, which of the following will
the author DISAGREE the MOST with?
All other options are mentioned in the passage
except option (2). In fact, option (2) is quite contrary
to what the author feels about refugees in our times.
Options (1) and (3) are mentioned in the sixth line
of the passage. The author would partly agree with
option (4) because the author touches upon the
notion of exile in the eighth line of the passage.
Option (5) is mentioned in the seventh line.
Q. 13 Project Affected Families (PAF) are those that are
physically displaced due to construction of a large
project (dam, factory etc.) in an area where the
PAF traditionally resided.
With insights from the passage, what would a
project proponent, dealing with PAF, reading the
following options agree the MOST with?
Option (1) is clearly out of scope and cannot be
considered. Refer to the following lines, “While the
idea of exile begins to appear trite in intellectual
circles, an increasingly large proportion of the world
is getting reconciled to living with the labile sense
of self. This clearly makes option (2) incorrect. As
per the passage, the author is not likely to agree
with options (3) and (4). Since emotional
estrangement is not an area of concern in PAF,
option (5) is the correct answer.
Q. 14 Read the following paragraph and answer the
question that follows:
When asked what the politician will do for the
nation’s economy, he attacked the opponent by
saying, “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for
that? I mean, she’s a woman, and I’m not supposed
to say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are
we serious? Nevertheless, we’re going to defeat
ISIS. ISIS happened a number of years ago in a
vacuum that was left because of bad judgment.
And I will tell you, I will take care of ISIS.”
Which of the following statements BEST describes
the politician’s intent?
As per the passage, the politician’s objective was
to make an emotional appeal to the voters. This
makes option (5) the correct answer.
Q. 15 Go through the statements below and answer the
question that follows:
P. Fast food intake for more than three times a
week is associated with greater odds of atopic
disorders such as asthma, eczema or rhinitis.
Thus, it should be definitely and strictly
controlled in children as it does no good.
Q. Regular junk food intake can lead to physical
and psychological issues among children.
R. Lack of Vitamins such as A and C, and minerals
such as magnesium and calcium, encourage
the development of deficiency diseases and
osteoporosis, as well as dental caries due to
higher intake.
S. Junk food, which are rich in energy with lots of
fat and sugar, are relatively low in other
important nutrients such as protein, fiber,
vitamins and minerals.
T. Emotional and self-esteem problems, along
with chronic illnesses in later life due to obesity,
are the issues associated with the junk food.
Which of the following combinations is the MOST
logically ordered?
Q is clearly the opening line of the passage and is
followed by S, which continues to talk about junk
food. R and T discuss the problems related to the
consumption of junk food. P mandatorily concludes
the passage. Hence, the correct sequence is
QSRTP.
Q. 16 Read the following paragraph and answer the
question that follows:
If we can send a human to the Moon, why can’t we
build sustainable cities? Defeat cancer? Tackle
climate change? So, go the rallying cries inspired
by one of humanity’s greatest achievements, the
US effort that put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin
on the Moon on 20 July 1969.
Which of the following statements, if true, BEST
communicates the intent of the paragraph?
The passage clearly reflects how sending a man
on the moon is easier than dealing with the
complexity of sustainable development. This is
expressed in option (4), making it the correct
answer. All other options are out of scope and
cannot be considered.
Q. 17 Read the following paragraph and answer the
question that follows:
In Australia, jellyfish are most common between
November and May. In Hawaii, jellyfish often show
up on south-facing beaches eight days after a full
moon. In the Mediterranean, blooms usually appear
in the summer. Unfortunately for travellers, there
is no worldwide database for recent jellyfish
sightings, and tourism officials are sometimes
reluctant to publicize jellyfish swarms out of fear
that such news will scare off visitors.
Which of the following can be BEST concluded
from the above paragraph?
The passage talks about jellyfish sightings in
different regions and how these are influenced by
celestial bodies. This makes option (3) the correct
answer.
For questions 18 to 20: Comprehension:
Read the passage below and answer the 3 associated
questions:
Once, during a concert of cathedral organ music, as I sat
getting gooseflesh amid that tsunami of sound, I was
struck with a thought: for a medieval peasant, this must
have been the loudest human-made sound they ever
experienced, awe-inspiring in now-unimaginable ways. No
wonder they signed up for the religion being proffered.
And now we are constantly pummeled with sounds that
dwarf quaint organs. Once, hunter-gatherers might chance
upon honey from a beehive and thus briefly satisfy a
hardwired food craving. And now we have hundreds of
carefully designed commercial foods that supply a burst
of sensation unmatched by some lowly natural food.
Once, we had lives that, amid considerable privation, also
offered numerous subtle, hard-won pleasures. And now
we have drugs that cause spasms of pleasure and
dopamine release a thousandfold higher than anything
stimulated in our old drug-free world.
An emptiness comes from this combination of over-thetop
nonnatural sources of reward and the inevitability of
habituation; this is because unnaturally strong explosions
of synthetic experience and sensation and pleasure evoke
unnaturally strong degrees of habituation. This has two
consequences. First, soon we barely notice the fleeting
whispers of pleasure caused by leaves in autumn, or by
the lingering glance of the right person, or by the promise
of reward following a difficult, worthy task. And the other
consequence is that we eventually habituate to even those
artificial deluges of intensity. If we were designed by
engineers, as we consumed more, we’d desire less. But
our frequent human tragedy is that the more we consume,
the hungrier we get. More and faster and stronger. What
was an unexpected pleasure yesterday is what we feel
entitled to today, and what won’t be enough tomorrow.
Q. 18 Which of the following options BEST reflects the
author’s understanding of human perception of
pleasure?
The concluding lines of the passage indicate that
‘What was an unexpected pleasure yesterday is
what we feel entitled to today, and what won’t be
enough tomorrow.’ Thus, the harder to replicate,
the more sustainable the pleasure from that
experience. The other options are inferences that
are beyond the information provided in the passage.
Q. 20 Which of the following options BEST describes
“emptiness” as described in the passage?
Refer the lines, ‘An emptiness comes from this
combination of over-the-top nonnatural sources of
reward and the inevitability of habituation; this is
because unnaturally strong explosions of synthetic
experience and sensation and pleasure evoke
unnaturally strong degrees of habituation.’ Thus,
the passage is talking about the fact that stronger
pleasure stimuli result in stronger habituation. In a
nutshell, more and more stimuli are required to
produce a sensation of pleasure. Thus, there is a
sense of emptiness even in the presence of several
sources of happiness.
For questions 21 to 23: Comprehension:
Read the passage below and answer the 3 associated
questions:
The nature of knowledge cannot survive unchanged within
this context of general transformation. It can fit into the
new channels, and become operational, only if learning
is translated into quantities of information. We can predict
that anything in the constituted body of knowledge that
is not translatable in this way will be abandoned and that
the direction of new research will be dictated by the
possibility of its eventual results being translatable into
computer language. The”producers” and users of
knowledge must know, and will have to, possess the
means of translating into these languages whatever they
want to invent or learn. Research on translating machines
is already well advanced. Along with the hegemony of
computers comes a certain logic, and therefore a certain
set of prescriptions determining which statements are
accepted as “knowledge” statements. “We may thus
expect a thorough exteriorisation of knowledge with
respect to the “knower,” at whatever point he or she may
occupy in the knowledge process. The old principle that
the acquisition of knowledge is indissociable from the
training (Bildung) of minds, or even of individuals, is
becoming obsolete and will become ever more so. The
relationships of the suppliers and users of knowledge to
the knowledge they supply and use is now tending, and
will increasingly tend, to assume the form already taken
by the relationship of commodity producers and consumers to the commodities they produce and consume
– that is, the form of value. Knowledge is and will be
produced in order to be sold, it is and will be consumed
in order to be valorised in a new production: in both cases,
the goal is exchange. Knowledge ceases to be an end in
itself, it loses its “use-value.”
Q. 21 Which of the following statements BEST captures
the essence of the passage?
The concluding lines of the passage clearly indicate
knowledge is slowly turning into a commodity and
is acquiring a commercial value. Thus, (5) is the
correct answer. The other options go beyond the
scope of the passage.
Q. 22 Based on the passage, which of the following
statements can be BEST inferred?
The passage clearly states that the old principle
that the acquisition of knowledge is indissociable
from the training of minds, or even of individuals,
is becoming obsolete. From this it can be clearly
inferred that acquiring knowledge need not alter
the individual. The passage does not say anything
about the locus of creation and accumulation of
knowledge. The other options are extreme in their
construction and distort the idea conveyed by the
author.
Q. 23 Which of the following options will the author agree
the MOST with?
The passage makes two points:
• The old principle that the acquisition of
knowledge is indissociable from the training of
minds, or even of individuals, is becoming
obsolete.
• Knowledge is and will be produced in order to
be sold, it is and will be consumed in order to
be valorised in a new production. Thus, it will
become a means to an end.
Keeping these points in perspective, the only option
that captures the aspect of exchange is option
(4). The other options point towards the role of either
innate ability or heredity or training in knowledge
acquisition.
Q. 24 Read the following paragraph and answer the
question that follows:
“People who work in law, hotel and food services,
and technology were found the most likely to skip
breakfast daily, according to a recent study. As for
people who do eat breakfast and prefer a savoury
type (like an egg), the study found they tend to
make more money, be night owls and prefer cats
over dogs. If you prefer a sweet breakfast like a
donut you tend to be a morning person, like
romcoms and are a dog person”.
Which of the following can be BEST inferred based
on the above paragraph?
In this passage, the comparison is between regular
breakfast eaters who like a savory breakfast and
people who prefer a sweet breakfast. Please note
that the comparison is not between the taste
preferences of regular breakfast eaters and its
impact on their personalities. Once this distinction
is clear, we realize that the correct comparison is
only captured in option (3).
Q. 25 Read the following paragraph and answer the
question that follows:
In a 2017 survey of 3,915 American workers, my
colleagues and I found that workers report
experiencing a sizable “voice gap” at work – that
is, a gap between how much say or influence they
feel they ought to have and how much they actually
have – on topics such as wages, working
conditions, fair treatment, and input into how they
do their work.
And now a second study, I have just completed
with a new team, finds that today’s workers want
forms of voice and representation that go well
beyond traditional unions.
Based on the above paragraph, which of the
following options would you agree with the MOST?
The statement that the workers today want forms
of voice and representation that go beyond the
traditional methods implies that these existing
means of addressing worker concerns have proven
insufficient. Thus, the first study highlights the
existence of the problem and the second study
highlights the need for new ways of solving it. The
use of ‘frustration’ and the claim that the unions
have been unable to address this, makes option
(1) incorrect. The other options are generic in
nature.
Q. 26 Read the following paragraph and answer the
question that follows:
Global surface temperatures in 2019 are on track
to be either the second or third warmest since
records began in the mid-1800s, behind only 2016
and possibly 2017. On top of the long-term warming
trend, temperatures in 2019 have been buoyed by
a moderate El Niño event that is likely to persist
through the rest of the year.
Which of the following statements can be BEST
inferred based on the above paragraph?
The passage clearly states that ‘On top of the longterm
warming trend, temperatures in 2019 have
been buoyed by a moderate El Niño event that is
likely to persist through the rest of the year’ Thus,
(1) can be clearly negated. There is no information
regarding options (2), (3) and (4). Hence, we arrive
at (5).
