Directions (1-15): In the following questions a paragraph is given and a sentence or a phrase/clause is missing in this paragraph. In some questions last sentence is missing. From the given options choose the most suitable sentence or phrase/clause that completes the idea expressed in the given paragraph.
Q1. Perhaps the simplest and easiest way to understand is the argument of the First Cause. I may say that when I was a young man and was debating these questions very seriously in my mind, I for a long time accepted the argument of the First Cause, until one day, at the age of eighteen, I read John Stuart Mill’s Autobiography, and I there found this sentence: “My father taught me that the question ‘Who made me?’ cannot be answered, since it immediately suggest the further question ‘Who made god?’’’ _______________
If everything must have a cause, then God must have a cause. If there can be anything without a cause, it may just as well be the world as God, so that there cannot be any validity in that argument.
(a) There is no reason why the world could have come into being without a cause.
(b) That argument, I suppose, does not carry very much weight nowadays, because, in the first place, cause is not quite what is used to be.
(c) That very simple sentence showed me, as I still think, the fallacy in the argument of the First Cause.
(d) It brings us to the central truth that God is the ultimate source and essence of everything.
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q2. Then there is a very common argument from natural law. That was a favorite argument all through the eighteenth century, especially under the influence of Sir Isaac Newton and his cosmogony. People observed the planets going around the sun according to the law of gravitation, and they thought that God had given a behest to these planets to move in that particular fashion, and that was why they did so. _______________
(a) Nowadays, we explain the law of gravitation in a somewhat complicated fashion that Einstein has introduced.
(b) Modern science has failed to explain this incongruity.
(c) You no longer have the sort of natural law that you had in the Newtonian system.
(d) That was, of course, a convenient and simple explanation that saved them the trouble of looking any further for explanations of the law of gravitation.
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q3. The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean;
The winds of heaven mix forever,
With a sweet emotion;
_________________________;
(a) This is the power of love
(b) Nothing in the world is single
(c) This is the seed of creation
(d) What’s life without love
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q4. All things by a law divine
In one another’s being mingle:
______________________________
(a) Why not I with thine?
(b) Let’s make a jingle
(c) It takes two to tango
(d) God is not away from us
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q5. Conventional education makes independent thinking extremely difficult. _______________ To be different from the group or to resist environment is not easy and is often risky as long as we worship success
(a) Creativity is crushed by orthodoxy.
(b) Innovative thinking is the key.
(c) This has ruined many careers.
(d) Conformity leads to mediocrity.
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q6. Though there is a higher and wider significance to life, of what value is our education if we never discover it? We may be highly educated, but if we are without deep integration of thought and feeling, our lives are incomplete, contradictory and torn with many fears; _______________.
(a) the ‘well-educated’ are ignoramus louts
(b) and as long as education does not cultivate an integrated outlook on life, it has very little significance
(c) and integrity is the key to spiritual evolution
(d) it has been rightly remarked, “I never let school to interfere in my education”
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q7. The function of education is to create human beings who are integrated and therefore intelligent. _______________. We may take degrees and be mechanically efficient without being intelligent. Intelligence is not mere information; it is not derived from books, nor does it consist of clever self-defensive responses and aggressive assertions.
(a) Education should help us to discover lasting values so that we do not merely cling to formulas or repeat slogans
(b) Education should not encourage the individual to conform to society or to be negatively harmonious with it
(c) One who has not studied may be more intelligent than the learned
(d) Unfortunately, the present system of education is making us subservient, mechanical and deeply thoughtless
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q8. Politicians may be corrupt, but have to seek reelection, and to that extent are accountable to voters. But civil servants are virtually unsackable, unaccountable and widely corrupt. You cannot change this overnight. _______________
(a) However, you can create jobs for the unemployed.
(b) So, go easy on making temporary workers permanent.
(c) But you can halt the growth of unsackable, unaccountable staff.
(d) So, devise safeguards against false accusations.
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q9. The “grand sweep of history” has become a much overused cliché. It incorporated the belief that change stemmed from big ideas that motivated individuals, classes and nations. _______________.
(a) The Bolshevik Revolution, whose impact dominated the 20th century, was prompted by disillusionment among the proletariat
(b) This finds support in Namier’s view that big ideas are less important than mundane and even base considerations
(c) Mass movements, cannot be judged by pronouncements of those who manage to filch them
(d) Thus, the French Revolution happened because the idea of liberty, equality and fraternity motivated people to overturn the decrepit absolute monarchy
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q10. A country that retains the death penalty needs constantly to fine-tune its clemency jurisprudence as the second best option. The Supreme Court’s latest verdict on death row convicts is a thoughtful exposition of the law in this regard. ______________________________
(a) Commuting the death sentences of 15 convicts to life sentences has significantly expanded the scope for judicial intervention to save the lives of convicts after the rejection of their mercy petitions.
(b) The court has laid down fresh rules to humanize the treatment of those facing the gallows, right up to the moment of their execution and even after that.
(c) The breadth of this ruling is not as impressive: it fails to remove all lingering doubts about the rule against undue delay.
(d) The court has crafted a new rule that families of convicts ought to be informed in writing as soon as their mercy petitions are rejected.
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q11. After successfully eradicating smallpox in 1980, India has now gone three straight years without reporting any new case of poliomyelitis infection (“polio”). This qualifies it to receive the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) certification for being polio-free. Undoubtedly, this is a victory that has been fought every inch of the way by myriad agencies on a number of fronts and against what seemed like insurmountable odds. ______________________________
(a) The lessons learnt are precious beyond words and the expectation is that these will be harnessed to fight other infectious diseases that plague the country.
(b) There is also the remaining challenge of treating and rehabilitating those who have already been crippled by the disease.
(c) Of course, polio vaccination is not a cure-all solution for all infectious diseases.
(d) In the mid-1990s the vaccination programme that was undertaken involved the government, United Nations bodies, charitable organizations and private donors.
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q12. Up to this point, Jordan Belfort is no different from countless eager MBA graduate in India who work in the stock or bond markets for global financial firms. Belfort’s lifestyle, while perhaps more (or less?) excessive than that of India’s super-rich, is still something a lot of us covet. He acquires a harem, a hot blonde wife, a daily dose of recreational drugs, a yacht, a yellow Jaguar and a white Ferrari.
(a) As a job creator, he transforms hopeless, low-end drug dealers into corporate sharks, and even gives a desperate single mother benefits that the US’ social welfare system overlooks.
(b) He lowers himself to unfathomed moral depths even as he soars to new heights of success.
(c) Surely many of us will laud Belfort when he says: “At least as a rich man, when I have to face my problems, I can show up in the back of a stretch limousine, wearing a two-thousand-dollar suit and a twenty-thousand-dollar gold watch!”
(d) These are charismatic brands that several of India’s merchant princes flaunt and made more familiar to us through thousands of Bollywood fantasies.
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q13. The yearning for money as succor drives contemporary capitalism. If every revolution and alternative has failed, why not work to enable the one that actually exists, why not do what your stockbroker tells you, and keep investing to circulate money in the economy? The original Forbes magazine expose that labelled Belfort “The Wolf of Wall Street” likened him to a “twisted Robin Hood” who takes from the rich and given to himself and his squad of losers.
(a) It is this observation that makes Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street profound, locating and attacking the very appeal of money.
(b) Scorsese refuses to dish out false platitudes that “crime does not pay” nor does he echo the sentimentalism of Oliver Stone’s Wall Street movies.
(c) As a job creator, he transforms hopeless, low-end drug dealers into corporate sharks.
(d) Is that not what we expect from the market, what keeps housewives glued to the television, watching CNBC for the latest stock information, and what drives many to start demat accounts?
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q14. Like Company Limited, Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street in an exploration of the contemporary world that few would have expected from these two artistes, given their refined sensibilities. The Wolf of Wall Street attacks the lifestyle of the middle-class, the world of advertising and consumerism, the lust for the good life and the protection it offers.
(a) the lust for good life propels us to struggle and survive in this big bad world.
(b) behind the veneer of consumerism is an effort to assert one’s individuality.
(c) the elite and the downtrodden are unaffected by this false glamour.
(d) The visible surface and texture of contemporary life corrupts us all, making us wolves thronging the pack of the alpha male rather than being benign, though gullible, sheep.
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q15. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of colour are concerned. Instead of honouring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”
(a) But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.
(b) So we have come to cash this check – a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
(c) This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
(d) In a sense, we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check.
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q1. Perhaps the simplest and easiest way to understand is the argument of the First Cause. I may say that when I was a young man and was debating these questions very seriously in my mind, I for a long time accepted the argument of the First Cause, until one day, at the age of eighteen, I read John Stuart Mill’s Autobiography, and I there found this sentence: “My father taught me that the question ‘Who made me?’ cannot be answered, since it immediately suggest the further question ‘Who made god?’’’ _______________
If everything must have a cause, then God must have a cause. If there can be anything without a cause, it may just as well be the world as God, so that there cannot be any validity in that argument.
(a) There is no reason why the world could have come into being without a cause.
(b) That argument, I suppose, does not carry very much weight nowadays, because, in the first place, cause is not quite what is used to be.
(c) That very simple sentence showed me, as I still think, the fallacy in the argument of the First Cause.
(d) It brings us to the central truth that God is the ultimate source and essence of everything.
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q2. Then there is a very common argument from natural law. That was a favorite argument all through the eighteenth century, especially under the influence of Sir Isaac Newton and his cosmogony. People observed the planets going around the sun according to the law of gravitation, and they thought that God had given a behest to these planets to move in that particular fashion, and that was why they did so. _______________
(a) Nowadays, we explain the law of gravitation in a somewhat complicated fashion that Einstein has introduced.
(b) Modern science has failed to explain this incongruity.
(c) You no longer have the sort of natural law that you had in the Newtonian system.
(d) That was, of course, a convenient and simple explanation that saved them the trouble of looking any further for explanations of the law of gravitation.
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q3. The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean;
The winds of heaven mix forever,
With a sweet emotion;
_________________________;
(a) This is the power of love
(b) Nothing in the world is single
(c) This is the seed of creation
(d) What’s life without love
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q4. All things by a law divine
In one another’s being mingle:
______________________________
(a) Why not I with thine?
(b) Let’s make a jingle
(c) It takes two to tango
(d) God is not away from us
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q5. Conventional education makes independent thinking extremely difficult. _______________ To be different from the group or to resist environment is not easy and is often risky as long as we worship success
(a) Creativity is crushed by orthodoxy.
(b) Innovative thinking is the key.
(c) This has ruined many careers.
(d) Conformity leads to mediocrity.
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q6. Though there is a higher and wider significance to life, of what value is our education if we never discover it? We may be highly educated, but if we are without deep integration of thought and feeling, our lives are incomplete, contradictory and torn with many fears; _______________.
(a) the ‘well-educated’ are ignoramus louts
(b) and as long as education does not cultivate an integrated outlook on life, it has very little significance
(c) and integrity is the key to spiritual evolution
(d) it has been rightly remarked, “I never let school to interfere in my education”
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q7. The function of education is to create human beings who are integrated and therefore intelligent. _______________. We may take degrees and be mechanically efficient without being intelligent. Intelligence is not mere information; it is not derived from books, nor does it consist of clever self-defensive responses and aggressive assertions.
(a) Education should help us to discover lasting values so that we do not merely cling to formulas or repeat slogans
(b) Education should not encourage the individual to conform to society or to be negatively harmonious with it
(c) One who has not studied may be more intelligent than the learned
(d) Unfortunately, the present system of education is making us subservient, mechanical and deeply thoughtless
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q8. Politicians may be corrupt, but have to seek reelection, and to that extent are accountable to voters. But civil servants are virtually unsackable, unaccountable and widely corrupt. You cannot change this overnight. _______________
(a) However, you can create jobs for the unemployed.
(b) So, go easy on making temporary workers permanent.
(c) But you can halt the growth of unsackable, unaccountable staff.
(d) So, devise safeguards against false accusations.
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q9. The “grand sweep of history” has become a much overused cliché. It incorporated the belief that change stemmed from big ideas that motivated individuals, classes and nations. _______________.
(a) The Bolshevik Revolution, whose impact dominated the 20th century, was prompted by disillusionment among the proletariat
(b) This finds support in Namier’s view that big ideas are less important than mundane and even base considerations
(c) Mass movements, cannot be judged by pronouncements of those who manage to filch them
(d) Thus, the French Revolution happened because the idea of liberty, equality and fraternity motivated people to overturn the decrepit absolute monarchy
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q10. A country that retains the death penalty needs constantly to fine-tune its clemency jurisprudence as the second best option. The Supreme Court’s latest verdict on death row convicts is a thoughtful exposition of the law in this regard. ______________________________
(a) Commuting the death sentences of 15 convicts to life sentences has significantly expanded the scope for judicial intervention to save the lives of convicts after the rejection of their mercy petitions.
(b) The court has laid down fresh rules to humanize the treatment of those facing the gallows, right up to the moment of their execution and even after that.
(c) The breadth of this ruling is not as impressive: it fails to remove all lingering doubts about the rule against undue delay.
(d) The court has crafted a new rule that families of convicts ought to be informed in writing as soon as their mercy petitions are rejected.
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q11. After successfully eradicating smallpox in 1980, India has now gone three straight years without reporting any new case of poliomyelitis infection (“polio”). This qualifies it to receive the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) certification for being polio-free. Undoubtedly, this is a victory that has been fought every inch of the way by myriad agencies on a number of fronts and against what seemed like insurmountable odds. ______________________________
(a) The lessons learnt are precious beyond words and the expectation is that these will be harnessed to fight other infectious diseases that plague the country.
(b) There is also the remaining challenge of treating and rehabilitating those who have already been crippled by the disease.
(c) Of course, polio vaccination is not a cure-all solution for all infectious diseases.
(d) In the mid-1990s the vaccination programme that was undertaken involved the government, United Nations bodies, charitable organizations and private donors.
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q12. Up to this point, Jordan Belfort is no different from countless eager MBA graduate in India who work in the stock or bond markets for global financial firms. Belfort’s lifestyle, while perhaps more (or less?) excessive than that of India’s super-rich, is still something a lot of us covet. He acquires a harem, a hot blonde wife, a daily dose of recreational drugs, a yacht, a yellow Jaguar and a white Ferrari.
(a) As a job creator, he transforms hopeless, low-end drug dealers into corporate sharks, and even gives a desperate single mother benefits that the US’ social welfare system overlooks.
(b) He lowers himself to unfathomed moral depths even as he soars to new heights of success.
(c) Surely many of us will laud Belfort when he says: “At least as a rich man, when I have to face my problems, I can show up in the back of a stretch limousine, wearing a two-thousand-dollar suit and a twenty-thousand-dollar gold watch!”
(d) These are charismatic brands that several of India’s merchant princes flaunt and made more familiar to us through thousands of Bollywood fantasies.
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q13. The yearning for money as succor drives contemporary capitalism. If every revolution and alternative has failed, why not work to enable the one that actually exists, why not do what your stockbroker tells you, and keep investing to circulate money in the economy? The original Forbes magazine expose that labelled Belfort “The Wolf of Wall Street” likened him to a “twisted Robin Hood” who takes from the rich and given to himself and his squad of losers.
(a) It is this observation that makes Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street profound, locating and attacking the very appeal of money.
(b) Scorsese refuses to dish out false platitudes that “crime does not pay” nor does he echo the sentimentalism of Oliver Stone’s Wall Street movies.
(c) As a job creator, he transforms hopeless, low-end drug dealers into corporate sharks.
(d) Is that not what we expect from the market, what keeps housewives glued to the television, watching CNBC for the latest stock information, and what drives many to start demat accounts?
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q14. Like Company Limited, Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street in an exploration of the contemporary world that few would have expected from these two artistes, given their refined sensibilities. The Wolf of Wall Street attacks the lifestyle of the middle-class, the world of advertising and consumerism, the lust for the good life and the protection it offers.
(a) the lust for good life propels us to struggle and survive in this big bad world.
(b) behind the veneer of consumerism is an effort to assert one’s individuality.
(c) the elite and the downtrodden are unaffected by this false glamour.
(d) The visible surface and texture of contemporary life corrupts us all, making us wolves thronging the pack of the alpha male rather than being benign, though gullible, sheep.
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Q15. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of colour are concerned. Instead of honouring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”
(a) But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.
(b) So we have come to cash this check – a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
(c) This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
(d) In a sense, we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check.
(e) None of the above fits in the paragraph correctly.
Solutions
S1. Ans.(c)
Sol. Option A, It is contrary to the main argument discussed in the passage, which tries to refute the argument of the First Cause.
Option B, It does not go with the theme of the paragraph, as discussed above.
Option C, As the author believes that there is no validity in the argument of the First Cause, so the third choice is correct.
Option D, Misleading choice. Out of scope of the passage, as it does not talk about the qualities of God.
S2. Ans.(d)
Sol. Option A, Gravitation is not the main focus of the argument; moreover, the para talks about Newton, and not Einstein.
Option B, Does not follow; why would Modern science explain a popular belief.
Option C, Does not make sense as the passage nowhere says that natural law was a part of the Newtonian system.
Option D, This option takes the argument forward, ‘that was……’ is the link that takes the case further by questioning the validity of the conventional wisdom. Hence, option D is the answer
S3. Ans.(b)
Sol. The lines are simple and direct. You have to find something that concludes the idea. So a, d, and c are quite tempting, although quite general in inference.
Option A, One cannot deduce it from the argument.
Option B, concludes the idea mentioned in each line, hence, it is the answer.
Option C, Again, this option is too farfetched.
Option D, Once again, this option is too farfetched.
S4. Ans.(a)
Sol. Now, this should be pretty logical for those who believe in love.
Option A, Hits the bulls eye, the only choice that logically completes the lines.
Hence, option A is the answer.
Option B, The choice is too creative although it rhymes well with the previous line.
Option C, ‘It takes two to tango’ is generally used with a negative sense, so out of question.
Option D, Is out of scope, do not be misled by the word ‘divine’.
S5. Ans.(d)
Sol. Option A, B; The passage nowhere talks about creativity or innovative thinking, so options A and B are out.
Option C, Takes the negative tone too far, so we have to eliminate this choice.
Option D, is clearly the missing logical link, which is taken further by the last line of the passage. Mentioned in the last line ‘to resist environment is not easy and often risky’ supports this statement. Hence, it is the right answer.
S6. Ans.(b)
Sol. Option A, The first choice is downright offensive, therefore not possible.
Option B, It includes both the elements ‘education’ and ‘integration’, hence, the right choice and is the answer.
Option C, Out of scope as the passage is about the ‘value of education’ and not spiritual evolution.
Option D, It is well said but out of place because the paragraph does not say that education is not necessary.
S7. Ans.(c)
Sol. Option A, It provides extra information which is out of scope of the passage.
Option B, It does not go with the theme of the passage, which talks about the role of education in developing intelligence.
Option C, It fills in the missing link. It has been illustrated in the last two lines.
Option D, This does not go with the last line, which tries to define real intelligence.
S8. Ans.(c)
Sol. Option A, It strays from the theme of the topic and hence, eliminated.
Option B, The previous line talks about the civil servants, so no connection between the two.
Option C, It justifies the you-cannot-change-it-overnight element in the previous line, hence, the answer.
Option D, It is totally unrelated to the topic.
S9. Ans.(d)
Sol. Option A, The passage talks about big ideas motivating the individuals or nations, this option talks about negative motivation of the proletariat.
Option B, It is counter to the theme of the paragraph which talks about the sweeping influence of the big ideas.
Option C, This is contradictory to the main idea of the paragraph.
Option D, Gives an illustration of how big ideas catch the popular imagination and create a wave of history.
S10. Ans.(a)
Sol. Option A, provides a solid example to support the main idea about fine-tuning the clemency jurisprudence.
Option B, It is an extension of the topic, but it deviate from the topic of mercy petitions or clemency jurisprudence.
Option C, Goes against the tone of the paragraph which is positive, ‘thoughtful exposition’ has been used
Option D, It provides secondary information but fails to logically complement the last sentence.
S11. Ans.(a)
Sol. Option A, Goes with the tone of the paragraph which is laudatory.
Option B, It does not follow the last sentence which is positive.
Option C, It dilutes the tone of the paragraph which is positive.
Option D, ‘the vaccination programme’ does not have its antecedent in the previous line.
S12. Ans.(d)
Sol. Option A, This could have been a possible choice, but it does not flow from the last sentence.
Option B, This option is quite tempting, but misses on the ‘India’ element interspersed throughout the paragraph.
Option C, Last sentence in option C does not refer to any ‘problems’ as mentioned in this statement.
Option D, It gels both the elements mentioned in the given lines, global brands and the great Indian dream.
S13. Ans.(d)
Sol. Option A, It is not possible as the previous line talks about Forbes’ review of the movie.
Option B, The paragraph nowhere talks about Scorsese, so this option is eliminated.
Option C, The last line does not have Belfort as the main subject, so ‘he’ cannot be used for lack of clear antecedent.
Option D, The author tries to argue that the greed of common man to make a fortune is not much different from a fraudster like Belfort who manipulates the stock market. Option D is in line with the theme of the paragraph. Hence, option D is the answer.
S14. Ans.(d)
Sol. Option A, It does not go with the negative tone of the last line, ‘attacks the lifestyle.’
Option B, Again, this option changes the tone of the passage which is negative.
Option C, This an extraneous piece of information which falls outside the scope of the discussion.
Option D, As it explains how it ‘attacks the middle class’ and uses the analogy of wolves and sheep to support the case.
S15. Ans.(a)
Sol. Let us eliminate the options:
Option B talks about how does ‘voting’ come into picture. Passage does not mention that or is not related to that. Hence, option (B) is not the answer.
Option C looks tempting but does not flow from the passage.
Option D sounds like a U-turn and hence, cannot be the answer.
Option A is the only option left out. Hence it is the answer.
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