XAT Grammar Questions PDF [Important]
Download Grammar Questions for XAT PDF – XAT Grammar questions pdf by Cracku. Top 15 very Important Grammar Questions for XAT based on asked questions in previous exam papers.
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Question 1: Read the excerpt carefully and answer the following question.
The over-whelming preponderance of people have not freely decided what to believe, but, rather, have been socially conditioned (indoctrinated) into their beliefs. They are unreflective thinkers.
Which of the following statements CANNOT be concluded from the excerpt?
a) A normal thinker finds it difficult to recognize what is happening to them
b) Beliefs that appear normal and natural heighten their acceptance
c) A lot of people end up believing what they passionately oppose
d) Things that we do automatically need to be reflected upon
e) The inability to criticize one’s belief leads to indoctrination
1) Answer (C)
Solution:
The paragraph states that people are unreflective thinkers and are socially indoctrinated into their beliefs. They did not decide what to believe by themselves.
Option C mentions people believing what they oppose, which is not mentioned in the passage. Hence, the answer is option C.
Question 2: Read the passage carefully and answer the following question.
One theory of accidents is what experts call the Swiss Cheese model. A slab of swiss cheese has several holes, randomly and unevenly distributed over its surface. If several slabs are stacked together, it would be impossible for something to slip through unless all the holes happen to line up.
If even one slab doesn’t align, the impending catastrophe will meet a layer of resistance, and the worst is averted. Aviation professionals will tell you that plane crashes never happen for a single reason. There may be an identifiable primary factor, but it’s usually a chain of events, an array of circumstances neatly piling up.
Which of the following statements can be BEST concluded from the passage?
a) Averting catastrophe is actually easier than it seems
b) Any historically relevant event is an accident because it involves a chain of preceding events
c) Accidents cannot be averted since a chain of events have to be averted to avert accidents
d) A catastrophe can be averted if the preceding array of events meets resistance
e) Any disaster is a culmination of many events happening in a particular order
2) Answer (D)
Solution:
The paragraph talks about how catastrophes result from a chain of events that may be identifiable beforehand.
The author also mentions, with the example of swiss cheese, “If even one slab doesn’t align, the impending catastrophe will meet a layer of resistance, and the worst is averted.” That if any of the events that lead to a disaster meet some resistance, the catastrophe can be averted.
Hence, the answer is option D.
Question 3: Read the passage carefully and answer the following question.
Geologists have been investigating a potential cycle in geological events for a long time. Back in the 1920s and 30s, scientists of the era had suggested that the geological record had a 30-million-year cycle, while in the 1980s and 90s researchers used the best-dated geological events at the time to give them a range of the length between ‘pulses’ of 26.2 to 30.6 million years. Now, everything seems to be in order -27.5 million years is right about where we’d expect. A study late last year suggested that this 27.5-million-year mark is when mass extinctions happen, too.
Which of the following statements can be BEST concluded from the passage?
a) Not all species go extinct once every 27.5 million years
b) “Pulse” between geological events is constant
c) All species go extinct once every 27.5 million years
d) Geological disasters happen sporadically
e) Mass extinctions and “geological pulse” are correlated
3) Answer (E)
Solution:
The paragraph talks about how geological events occur in a cycle, and research has found the period of the cycle to be around 27.5million years. It also mentions that mass extinctions occur at this 27.5millions years, too.
From this we can see that geological events and mass extinctions both occur around the same time and thus are correlated to each other. Hence, option E is the answer.
Option A: the passage mentions that mass extinctions happen every 27.5million years, but it is not the main idea of the passage.
Option B: The passage says that the length between pulses is 26.2 and 30.6million years and in general occurs around 27.5million years. Thus, it is not a constant value.
Option C: It is incorrect since the paragraph only talks about mass extinction. Whether all species go extinct or not is not mentioned.
Option D: The passage is talking about geological events occurring in a cycle. Hence, it is incorrect.
Question 4: The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
Brazil’s growth rate has been low, yet most Brazilians say their financial situation has improved, and they expect it to get even better. This is because most incomes are rising fast, with higher minimum wages and very low unemployment. The result is falling inequality and a growing middle class — the result of economic stabilization, improved social security and universal primary education. But despite recent improvements the Brazilian economy is still painfully unequal, with poor Brazilians paying the biggest share of their income in taxes and getting the least back in government services.
a) Economic reforms have benefitted many Brazilians, but they are unaware of the impending problems from rising inequalities in their society.
b) Good economic indicators have masked the unfair taxation of the poor that is likely to destabilise the Brazilian economy in the next few years.
c) Most Brazilians feel they have benefitted from recent economic events, but the poor continue to be dealt unfairly by the state.
d) With rising incomes and falling unemployment, most Brazilians are being misled into thinking that their economy is doing well.
4) Answer (C)
Solution:
The main points of the paragraph are:
1. The Brazilian economy has been stagnant, but the popular perception is that the times have improved.
2. The reasons are falling inequality and other important services.
3. Despite this, the economy is brutally unequal.
A: Ignorance on the part of Brazilians is not implied. What the author is saying that though things have improved for the ones who say so, others are still being dealt a rough hand.
B: The paragraph does not imply that the good economic indicators are being used as subterfuge to cover up the prevailing inequality.
C: Comes the closest in capturing the three points. Hence, is the answer.
D: It has a problem similar to Option A. Things have improved for that section of people. They are not ignorant, nor are they being misled into believing something.
Question 5: The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
The human mind is wired to see patterns. Not only does the brain process information as it comes in, it also stores insights from all our past experiences. Every interaction, happy or sad, is catalogued in our memory. Intuition draws from that deep memory well to inform our decisions going forward. In other words, intuitive decisions are based on data, and not contrary to data as many would like to assume. When we subconsciously spot patterns, the body starts firing neurochemicals in both the brain and gut. These “somatic markers” are what give us that instant sense that something is right … or that it’s off. Not only are these automatic processes faster than rational thought, but our intuition draws from decades of diverse qualitative experience (sights, sounds, interactions, etc.) – a wholly human feature that big data alone could never accomplish.
a) Intuition is infinitely richer than big data which is based on rational thought and accomplishes more than what big data can.
b) Intuitions are automatic processes and are therefore faster than rational thought, and so decisions based on them are better.
c) Intuition draws from deep memory, and may not be related to data, but to decades of diverse qualitative experience.
d) Intuitions are neuro-chemical firings based on pattern recognition and draw upon a rich and vast database of experiences.
5) Answer (D)
Solution:
The main points of the paragraph are as follows:
1. Intuition draws from a vast array of memories that our brain keeps in store.
2. When our brain recognises a pattern from past memories, neuron firing starts, which gives us the gut feeling of intuition.
A: Distortion: The passage does not give any detail about big data being based on rational thought.
B: Out of scope. The paragraph does not allude to whether the decisions based on intuition are better or worse.
C: Incorrect: The passage says that intuitive decisions are based on data.
D: Correctly covers the mentioned points and hence, is the answer.
Question 6: The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
People view idleness as a sin and industriousness as a virtue, and in the process have developed an unsatisfactory relationship with their jobs. Work has become a way for them to keep busy, even though many find their work meaningless. In their need for activity people undertake what was once considered work (fishing, gardening) as hobbies. The opposing view is that hard work has made us prosperous and improved our levels of health and education. It has also brought innovation and labour and time-saving devices, which have lessened life’s drudgery.
a) Despite some detractors, hard work is essential in today’s world to enable economic progress, for education and health and to propel innovations that make life easier.
b) Hard work has overtaken all aspects of our lives and has enabled economic prosperity, but it is important that people reserve their leisure time for some idleness.
c) Some believe that hard work has been glorified to the extent that it has become meaningless, and led to greater idleness, but it has also had enormous positive impacts on everyday life.
d) While the idealisation of hard work has propelled people into meaningless jobs and endless activity, it has also led to tremendous social benefits from prosperity and innovation.
6) Answer (D)
Solution:
The main points of the passage are:
1. People increasingly view idleness as sin and industriousness as a virtue, pushing them into meaningless jobs.
2. On the other hand, this has also saved us from many of life’s drudgeries.
A: Misses out on point 1.
B: A distortion. The author does not advocate idleness. Also, 1 is not covered properly.
C: Incorrect. ‘led to greater idleness’ is not implied anywhere in the passage.
D: Covers both the points aptly and is the answer.
Question 7: The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
The unlikely alliance of the incumbent industrialist and the distressed unemployed worker is especially powerful amid the debris of corporate bankruptcies and layoffs. In an economic downturn, the capitalist is more likely to focus on costs of the competition emanating from free markets than on the opportunities they create. And the unemployed worker will find many others in a similar condition and with anxieties similar to his, which will make it easier for them to organize together. Using the cover and the political organization provided by the distressed, the capitalist captures the political agenda.
a) In an economic downturn, the capitalists use the anxieties of the unemployed and their political organisation to set the political agenda to suit their economic interests.
b) The purpose of an unlikely alliance between the industrialist and the unemployed during an economic downturn is to stifle competition in free markets.
c) An economic downturn creates competition because of which the capitalists capture the political agenda created by the political organisation provided by the unemployed.
d) An unlikely alliance of the industrialist and the unemployed happens during an economic downturn in which they come together to unite politically and capture the political agenda.
7) Answer (A)
Solution:
The main points of the paragraph are:
1. In an economic disaster, the atypical alliance of established industrialist and unemployed workers proves powerful.
2. Anxieties and anticipation lead them to look after their interests.
3. It is the industrialist that benefits the most as he is able to use the latter to achieve his vested political interests.
A: Comes the closest in capturing all three points, and hence, is the answer.
B: Distortion. This purpose has not been mentioned in the passage.
C: Distortion. It has not been mentioned that an economic downturn creates competition. It has been mentioned that during such a disaster, the industrialist is more likely to focus on the downsides emerging from free-market (competition) than the upsides.
D: Distortion. It has been implied that the industrialist manipulates the situation to fulfill his own political agenda, and not that the two parties come together to achieve a single goal.
Question 8: The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
Creativity is now viewed as the engine of economic progress. Various organizations are devoted to its study and promotion; there are encyclopedias and handbooks surveying creativity research. But this proliferating success has tended to erode creativity’s stable identity: it has become so invested with value that it has become impossible to police its meaning and the practices that supposedly identify and encourage it. Many people and organizations committed to producing original thoughts now feel that undue obsession with the idea of creativity gets in the way of real creativity.
a) The obsession with original thought, how it can be promoted and researched, has made it impossible for people and organizations to define the concept anymore.
b) The industry that has built up around researching what comprises and encourages creativity has destroyed the creative process itself.
c) Creativity has proliferated to the extent that is no longer a stable process, and its mutating identity has stifled the creative process.
d) The value assigned to creativity today has assumed such proportions that the concept itself has lost its real meaning and this is hampering the engendering of real creativity.
8) Answer (D)
Solution:
The main points of the paragraph are:
1. The value of creativity to economic progress has been realised, with serious investment being done to study/promote it.
2. But this success fires back. Policing its meaning can lead to obsession, hampering creativity itself.
A: It is extreme in approach. The paragraph does not imply that it has become impossible to define the concept, but it becomes difficult to practice creativity when it is being forced on oneself.
B: It is also extreme. The obsession hampers, not completely destroys the creative process.
C: This option is a distortion and fails to capture the above points.
D: Comes the closest to capturing the above two points, and hence, is the answer.
Question 9: The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
Biologists who publish their research directly to the Web have been labelled as “rogue”, but physicists have been routinely publishing research digitally (“preprints”), prior to submitting in a peer-reviewed journal. Advocates of preprints argue that quick and open dissemination of research speeds up scientific progress and allows for wider access to knowledge. But some journals still don’t accept research previously published as a preprint. Even if the idea of preprints is gaining ground, one of the biggest barriers for biologists is how they would be viewed by members of their conservative research community.
a) One of the advantages of digital preprints of research is they hasten the dissemination process, but these are not accepted by most scientific communities.
b) Compared to biologists, physicists are less conservative in their acceptance of digital pre-publication of research papers, which allows for faster dissemination of knowledge.
c) While digital publication of research is gaining popularity in many scientific disciplines, almost all peer-reviewed journals are reluctant to accept papers that have been published before.
d) Preprints of research are frowned on by some scientific fields as they do not undergo a rigourous reviewing process but are accepted among biologists as a quick way to disseminate information.
9) Answer (B)
Solution:
The main points of the paragraph are:
1. As compared to physicists, biologists are more conservative when it comes to the subject of preprints.
2. Preprints allow faster dissemination of knowledge.
A: Misses out the comparison between biologists and physicists.
B: Captures both the points appropriately and is the answer.
C: Also misses out the comparison between biologists and physicists.
D: Factually incorrect, physicists and not biologists are open to the idea of preprints.
Question 10: The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
Developing countries are becoming hotbeds of business innovation in much the same way as Japan did from the 1950s onwards. They are reinventing systems of production and distribution, and experimenting with entirely new business models. Why are countries that were until recently associated with cheap hands now becoming leaders in innovation? Driven by a mixture of ambition and fear they are relentlessly climbing up the value chain. Emerging-market champions have not only proved highly competitive in their own backyards, they are also going global themselves.
a) Competition has driven emerging economies, once suppliers of cheap labour, to become innovators of business models that have enabled them to move up the value chain and go global.
b) Innovations in production and distribution are helping emerging economies compete with countries to which they once supplied cheap labour.
c) Developing countries are being forced to invent new business models which challenge the old business models, so they can remain competitive domestically.
d) Production and distribution models are going through rapid innovations worldwide as developed countries are being challenged by their earlier suppliers from the developing world.
10) Answer (A)
Solution:
The main points of the paragraph are:
1. Developing economies are becoming hotbeds of economic innovation.
2. Earlier they used to be associated with cheap labour, but now ambition and fear have made them competitive globally.
Option A: It correctly captures the two main points and hence is the answer.
Option B: This option is distorted. Business innovations have not been mentioned as the reason why emerging economies have become competitive globally. It has only been mentioned as a factor in close association.
Option C: Again, the paragraph does not mention that the developing economies are being forced to do this in order to stay competitive. This option suggests an element of necessity for the survival of the economies, which is not implied.
Option D: This option is distorted. The passage only mentions innovations in developing economies and not worldwide.
Question 11: The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
Foreign peacekeepers often exist in a bubble in the poor countries in which they are deployed; they live in posh compounds, drive fancy vehicles, and distance themselves from locals. This may be partially justified as they are outsiders, living in constant fear, performing a job that is emotionally draining. But they are often despised by the locals, and many would like them to leave. A better solution would be bottom-up peacebuilding, which would involve their spending more time working with communities, understanding their grievances and earning their trust, rather than only meeting government officials.
a) Peacekeeping duties would be more effectively performed by local residents given their better understanding, knowledge and rapport with their own communities.
b) The environment in poor countries has tended to make foreign peacekeeping forces live in enclaves, but it is time to change this scenario.
c) Extravagant lifestyles and an aloof attitude among the foreigners working as peacekeepers in poor countries have justifiably made them the target of local anger.
d) Peacekeeping forces in foreign countries have tended to be aloof for valid reasons but would be more effective if they worked more closely with local communities.
11) Answer (D)
Solution:
The main points of the paragraph are:
1. The peacekeeping forces often exist in a bubble. Though there are valid reasons behind this, this also results in the locals feeling antipathy towards them.
2. The solution to this problem is to build rapport with the locals too instead of focusing only on the government officials.
Option A: Not implied in the paragraph. The paragraph suggests building relationships with the locals. Appointing only locals as peacekeepers has not been implied.
Option B: This option distorts what is being presented in the paragraph. The paragraph suggests that the bubble is justified sometimes and also suggest measures to counter that. The option implicates the country’s environment as being responsible for that bubble, hence the blame is shifted completely. Also, the option fails to mention the antipathy and the measures suggested to counter the bubble.
Option C: This option is distorted. Where the paragraph says that the aloof attitude is justified sometimes, the option blames the peacekeeping forces and their ‘extravagant lifestyles’ for the antipathy they face. Hence, can be eliminated.
Option D: Option D correctly captures the main points and is the answer.
Question 12: The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
McGurk and MacDonald (1976) reported a powerful multisensory illusion occurring with audio-visual speech. They recorded a voice articulating a consonant ‘ba-ba-ba’ and dubbed it with a face articulating another consonant ‘ga-ga-ga’. Even though the acoustic speech signal was well recognized alone, it was heard as another consonant after dubbing with incongruent visual speech i.e., ‘da-da-da’. The illusion, termed as the McGurk effect, has been replicated many times, and it has sparked an abundance of research. The reason for the great impact is that this is a striking demonstration of multisensory integration, where that auditory and visual information is merged into a unified, integrated percept.
a) Visual speech mismatched with auditory speech can result in the perception of an entirely different message: this illusion is known as the McGurk effect.
b) When the quality of auditory information is poor, the visual information wins over the auditory information.
c) The McGurk effect which is a demonstration of multisensory integration has been replicated many times.
d) When the auditory speech signal does not match the visual speech movements, the acoustic speech signal is confusing and integration of the two is imperfect.
12) Answer (A)
Solution:
The main points of the paragraph are:
1. A multisensory illusion, dubbing a different visual cue to audio, makes the subject perceive a different sound. (Important point)
2. This illusion is called McGurk effect. (Important point. Related to 1)
3. An impactful subject of research as it demonstrates multisensory integration. (Secondary point. 1 and 2 can stand without this point)
Option A: Covers 1 and 2. Hence, a plausible option.
Option B: It distorts what the author is trying to say. It draws a conclusion out of the results of the study instead of paraphrasing the passage.
Option C: Option C covers only 3. It does not mention 1 and hence is not a good summary.
Option D: Mentions only 1. Not an apt summary.
Hence, the answer is Option A.
Question 13: 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:
a) Newspapers fear to speak outside the narrow confines of social media.
b) Newspapers get influenced by the followers on social-media platforms.
c) Newspapers cave into the narratives shared on social-media platforms.
d) Newspapers create their own narratives to control the audience.
e) Newspapers are ready to compromise with their ethics.
13) Answer (C)
Solution:
Options A, B, D, and E are not mentioned or indicated in the paragraph and thus, can be eliminated.
The passage talks about how the newspapers are choosing stories to satisfy the narrowest of audiences instead of putting all the stories from the world for the public to judge.
Thus, option C is the answer.
Question 14: The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
With the Treaty of Westphalia, the papacy had been confined to ecclesiastical functions, and the doctrine of sovereign equality reigned. What political theory could then explain the origin and justify the functions of secular political order? In his Leviathan, published in 1651, three years after the Peace of Westphalia, Thomas Hobbes provided such a theory. He imagined a “state of nature” in the past when the absence of authority produced a “war of all against all.” To escape such intolerable insecurity, he theorized, people delivered their rights to a sovereign power in return for the sovereign’s provision of security for all within the state’s border. The sovereign state’s monopoly on power was established as the only way to overcome the perpetual fear of violent death and war.
a) Thomas Hobbes theorized the voluntary surrender of rights by people as essential for emergence of sovereign states.
b) Thomas Hobbes theorized the emergence of sovereign states as a form of transactional governance to limit the power of the papacy.
c) Thomas Hobbes theorized that sovereign states emerged out of people’s voluntary desire to overcome the sense of insecurity and establish the doctrine of sovereign equality.
d) Thomas Hobbes theorized the emergence of sovereign states based on a transactional relationship between people and sovereign state that was necessitated by a sense of insecurity of the people.
14) Answer (D)
Solution:
Let’s look at the options one by one. Option 1 talks about voluntary surrender of rights. But the passage talks about “transfer” of rights, not “surrender” of rights.
The main point is not about “powers of papacy”, option 2 is inconsequential.
Option 3 does not cover one of the main points of the passage, the transfer of rights, between people and the sovereign power. It’s an incomplete option.
Option 4 is the correct summary, it talks about the transactional relationship i.e give and take or transfer of rights between people and sovereign government.
Question 15: The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
The rural-urban continuum and the heterogeneity of urban settings pose an obvious challenge to identifying urban areas and measuring urbanization rates in a consistent way within and across countries. An objective methodology for distinguishing between urban and rural areas that is based on one or two metrics with fixed thresholds may not adequately capture the wide diversity of places. A richer combination of criteria would better describe the multifaceted nature of a city’s function and its environment, but the joint interpretation of these criteria may require an element of human judgment.
a) With the diversity of urban landscapes, measurable criteria for defining urban areas may need to be supplemented with human judgement.
b) Current methodologies used to define urban and rural areas are no longer relevant to our being able to study trends in urbanisation.
c) The difficulty of accurately identifying urban areas means that we need to create a rich combination of criteria that can be applied to all urban areas.
d) Distinguishing between urban and rural areas might call for some judgement on the objective methodology being used to define a city’s functions.
15) Answer (A)
Solution:
Option B is incorrect, as it mentions “is no longer relevant” whereas the author says may no longer be relevant.
Option C is incorrect too, as the passage talks about distinguishing between urban/rural, not about accurately identifying rural areas.
Option D is distorted. Judgement would be required on the richer criteria , not on the objective methodology, as mentioned in this option.
Option A is correct as it correctly captures the essence of the passage.
