IPM Indore 2019 Question Paper

Read the following passage and choose the answer that is closest to each of the questions that are based on the passage.

Supposing half a dozen or a dozen men were cast ashore from a wreck on an uninhabited island and left to their own resources, one of course, according to his capacity, would be set to one business and one to another; the strongest to dig and to cut wood, and to build huts for the rest: the most dexterous to make shoes out of bark and coats out of skins; the best educated to look for iron or lead in the rocks, and to plan the channels for the irrigation of the fields. But though their labours were thus naturally severed, that small group of shipwrecked men would understand well enough that the speediest progress was to be made by helping each other-not by opposing each other; and they would know that this help could only be properly given so long as they were frank and open in their relations, and the difficulties which each lay under properly explained to the rest. So that any appearance of secrecy or separateness in the actions of any of them would instantly, and justly, be looked upon with suspicion by the rest, as the sign of some selfish or foolish proceeding on the part of the individual. If, for instance, the scientific man were found to have gone out at night, unknown to the rest, to alter the sluices, the others would think, and in all probability rightly think, that he wanted to get the best supply of water to his own field; and if the shoemaker refused to show them where the bark grew which he made the sandals of, they would naturally think, and in all probability rightly think, that he didn't want them to see how much there was of it, and that he meant to ask from them more corn and potatoes in exchange for his sandals than the trouble of making them deserved. And thus, although each man would have a portion of time to himself in which he was allowed to do what he chose without let or inquiry - so long as he was working in that particular business which he had undertaken for the common benefit, any secrecy on his part would be immediately supposed to mean mischief; and would require to be accounted for, or put an end to: and this all the more because, whatever the work might be, certainly there would be difficulties about it which, when once they were well explained, might be more or less done away with by the help of the rest; so that assuredly every one of them would advance with his labour not only more happily, but more profitably and quickly, by having no secrets, and by frankly bestowing, and frankly receiving, such help as lay in his way to get or to give.

Read the following passage and choose the answer that is closest to each of the questions that are based on the passage.

The perennial debate over gender differences threatens to remain inconclusive. Stereotypes pertaining to male superiority and female submissiveness could be traced to earlier ages where assigned roles were needed as survival measures. But, can we today see a swing away from these stereotypes, or have they established a stranglehold on our perceptions? In this gendered world, we continue to live with notions that one's gender determines one's skills and preferences, from toys and colours to career choices. So the girl child will be presented with a Barbie doll, while the boy child will receive a Lego set.
Does that mean that our brains are different? This myth has been exploded by a British professor of cognitive neuroimaging. Her research attempts to establish how these stereotypes mould our ideas of ourselves. She examines how science has been misinterpreted or misused to ask the wrong questions, instead of challenging the status quo. She urges us to move beyond a binary view of people's brains and instead to see these as highly individualised, profoundly adaptable, and full of unbounded potential. Her conclusive findings establish that no brain differences can be found that are solely gender related. In other words, modern neuroscientists have identified no decisive category-defining differences between the brains of men and women.
As a result of these findings we owe it to ourselves to dump the myths and look at ourselves afresh. We need to recognise that the male and female brain debate is a distraction, besides being based on inaccuracies. It is possibly harmful too, because it can be used as a hook to justify saying there is no point in girls doing science because they do not have a science brain; or compelling boys to opt for science because their brains are shaped for that subject. It can also condemn boys for being emotional, as this is seen as a feminine trait. And, most dangerous of all, to proclaim that boys, not girls, are meant to lead.