Based on the passage, which of the following options would be the most appropriate for citizens to learn history?
XAT 2018 Question Paper - English
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 wast 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.
Solution
In the passage the author reiterates the fact that studying history widens our vision and the penultimate sentence of the passage states that by studying the accidental chain of events that led us here, we realise how our thoughts and dreams took shape and we begin to think and dream differently. Therefore, if every street in India were to display a plague that lists all its previous names, it would help us realise how our very own thoughts and dreams took shape and thereby, help us begin to think and dream differently. Therefore, only option B would be the most appropriate for the citizens to learn history.
Options A and C restrict themselves only to British names of streets and do not speak about the history of India prior to British rule and hence they can be eliminated. Options D and E fail to explain why it would be appropriate for citizens to learn history so they can be eliminated to.
Which of the following options is the closest to the essence of the passage?
Solution
Refer lo lines 9 and 10 of the passage - "Scholars in all fields....This is especially true of history" - and the last four lines of the passage, from which it can be understood that studying history helps us to think and dream differently and it gives us more options. Hence it can be said that option E is closest to the main idea which the author intends to convey. Option A can be understood from the passage but it does not bring out the main idea of the passage. Options B, C and D are too generalised statements.
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?
Solution
The author of the passage believes that history doesn't follow strict rules, so we can't really predict the future by looking at the past. They think that trying to directly copy past solutions for today's problems won't work because things are always changing.
Statement 1 contradicts this because it says a historian successfully predicted something based on the past, which the author says is unlikely.
Statement 4 also contradicts the author because it says a tribe learned to predict future epidemics from past stories, again suggesting that the past can help predict the future, which the author doubts.
Statements 2 and 3 don't go against the author's main point about the unpredictability of history and the limitations of directly applying past lessons.
Hence, correct option is Option D.
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.
According to Peirce, for a particular thought, which of the following statements will be correct?
Solution
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Refer to the lines 5 and 6 of paragraph 2 "Peirce defines a belief subjectively as something of which we are aware and which appeases the doubt." From this it can be inferred that a doubt may lead to a belief. The word "subjectively" suggests that a doubt may lead to a belief. Hence it cannot be said categorically that a doubt always leads to a belief.
"A candidate has applied for XAT". According to Peirce, it indicates that:
Solution
It is stated in the passage that once we achieve a belief, we can take the necessary action to reach our destination. From this it is explicit that a candidate believes that he/she has faith in the application process and that is the reason why he/she has applied for XAT. A candidate's trust in the application process leads him or her to apply for the exam that is the main reason which prompts him or her to apply for the exam that is the main reason which prompts him or her to apply for the exam. Hence option (A) is the best answer to this question.
Which of the following words is the closest in meaning to "dilettantism"?
Solution
The word "dilettantism" means amateurism or inexpertness. Pierce 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. By refering to people who don't care to find out a true belief, it can be understood that Pierce is referring to people who indulge in mere guess work. Hence, from the given options the word "guess" is closest in meaning to the word dilettante.
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?
Solution
It is stated in the second paragraph of the passage that Pierce 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. From this it can be inferred that a person thinks that he/she has to keep awake for twenty hours in a day to score well in an examination, but is awake for only fifteen hours, that the person is merely holding a thought without caring to find a true belief. Hence option B is the appropriate answer to this question.
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 sweet smelling. 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!”
Which of the following statements captures the essence of the passage?
Solution
The author argues throughout the passage that materialists cannot solve the hard problem of consciousness, which is backed by Galileo's observations. This is captured by Option B.
Option A is a minor point. Option C is not true according to the passage. Option D is far-fetched. Option E has been disapproved in the passage.
Which of the following options would most likely be an example of the hard problem?
Solution
"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’."
Thus, it can be inferred that the questions related to the human brain having experiences are the hard problem of consciousness.
Now, out of the above options, option B and E comes close.
But since option E is framed as a problem while B is a general statement,
The correct option is E.
Which of the following statements can be inferred from the passage?
Solution
Option A is denied by 'Explaining complex behaviour in an important scientific endeavor. But the hard problem of consciousness cannot be solved by changing the subject'. Option B is denied by 'But the hard problem of consciousness cannot be solved by changing the subject'. Option C is denied by 'philosophers have declared that certain phenomena are too special to be explained by physical science... only to be subsequently proven wrong by the relentless march of scientific progress'. Option E is denied by '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'. Option D is supported by the last sentence of the passage! Refer to 'I created physical science by taking consciousness out of the physical world'
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.
While labor is capital, it is poles apart from each other because:
Solution
The paragraph begins with the question statement and justifies it towards the end of the passage - 'not in accord with its own (labor's) will.... but in accord with the movement (will) of capital'. Option A and D are untrue. C and E are out of context. Basically, the passage argues that while there are similarities between labor and capital, they are very different, because capital controls labor.
According to the passage, what does the working class subsists on?
Solution
Option E is supported by 'living labor which is purchased by the capitalist.....That portion....is the portion.... upon which the latter (labor) subsists'.
This means that the capitalist buys labor power from workers (i.e., wages are paid to workers in exchange for their labor), which is then used in the production process to generate surplus value.
So, "living labor purchased by the capitalist" is a valid and accurate phrase based on the passage.
Which of the following statements will be true, according to the passage?
Solution
Option D is the correct answer. The passage discusses how the working class, referred to as "living labor," is exploited through the processes of capital accumulation. The working class is portrayed as "the raw material for exploitation" and is directly linked to capital accumulation, resulting in the extraction of surplus value. The passage highlights that the working class is shaped by and subjected to the movement of capital, which leads to their exploitation.
Option A: The passage does not state that capital exploits the working class. Instead, it emphasizes the exploitation within the broader context of capital accumulation, not 'capital'.
Option B: The passage does not state that the working class, once converted into capital, is exploited solely by the bourgeoisie. It emphasizes more on the transformation of labor into the capital cycle rather than the specific exploitation by the bourgeois.
Option C: The passage mentions that the working class faces social and political conflicts, but it does not connect those conflicts to their exploitation.
Option E: While the passage refers to the working class as "raw material for exploitation," it does not describe them as "raw material for capital."
For the following questions answer them individually
Read the following statements and answer the question that follows:
- But its most advanced formulation is called superstring theory, which even predicts the precise number of dimensions: ten.
- 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).
- Scientifically, the hyperspace theory goes by the names of Kaluza-Klein theory and supergravity.
- The usual three dimensions of space (length, width, and breadth) and one of time are now extended by six more spatial dimensions.
- 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:
Solution
3-1-4 forms a logical sequence as the "its" in 1 refers to the hyperspace theory mentioned in 3. The ten dimensions mentioned in 1 are explained in brief in 4.
5-2 forms a pair as 2 explains the popularity of the theory among the scientific community even though it has not been proven in a laboratory, as mentioned in 5.
Hence, the answer is option A.
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 five statements given so as to make a logical sequence:
Solution
2-1-4 forms a logical sequence as it tells us to examine why the perpetrators may have committed the crime and the moral danger it puts us in.
3-5 forms a pair as it mentions the victims of a crime.
Hence, option C is the answer.
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?
Solution
Arti's long term goals include working towards improving the lives of under- represented populations. It was natural that she would search for a college that was dedicated to producing compassionate (tender or gentle or caring) leaders. She as any other student would have done - choose her college since its mission was similar to hers. Thus, option D is the correct choice. The other choices talk about cost, personalised attention from professors etc and are, therefore, irrelevant.
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.
Solution
The sentence is written in a negative tone. Hence, option C is eliminated.
In option A, small and insignificant have similar meanings and thus, won't be used together. Hence, A is eliminated.
In option B, the word "productivity" is not suitable for the given sentence, as the sentence indicates some form of payment made for education. Hence, option B is eliminated.
Among options C and D, D is most suitable as for the predictor to be useless/irrelevant; it has to be random and not predictable.
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.
Solution
The first blank should be either "fewer" or "less". Since gold is uncountable here and the army is mentioned as 10000(countable), the adjective "less" will be used with gold and "fewer" with the army. Hence, options B, D and E are eliminated.
"some time" is used when a period of unspecified time is mentioned. Hence, it will be used in the third blank.
"sometime" is used to denote an uncertain time in past or future. Hence, it will be used for the fourth blank.
Hence, the answer is option A.
Which of the following sentences contains correct and meaningful usage of the underlined words?
Solution
'Unique from' is incorrect in this context, while 'different from' is the proper expression to be used. Therefore, options A and D are eliminated.
Option E is incorrect as the conjuction 'but' conveys the idea correctly. Among the options B and C, option B is incorrect as the '...but he hadn't expected no criticism from her' is illogical.
Option C the contains correct and meaningful usage of the underlined words
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?
Solution
In the poem, "will" is directly presented as something to be "dissolved" to understand love. It indicates an opposition where love requires the surrender of individual will. "Freewill" and "fate" are positioned as concerns that one must "escape" to achieve true freedom, a state that seems closely linked to the profound love the poem describes. The poem suggests that preoccupation with personal autonomy and predetermined events keeps one bound to a lower level of existence, while true love and freedom lie in transcending these concerns. Therefore, in the context of the poem's spiritual and transcendent view of love, these concepts represent aspects of a less enlightened state that are in opposition to the selfless and boundless nature of love it promotes. Hence, all the three words are opposites of love.
Which of the following is the closest interpretation of "lovers have some secrets that they keep"?
Solution
The poem talks about a very deep and pure kind of love that wants you to be open and empty inside, like a clear mirror. In this kind of love, the idea that lovers keep secrets might seem odd. So, the closest meaning is that the real "secret" of love is actually to have no secrets at all between you. It's about being completely open and honest with each other.
Option A is eliminated by 'Be clear like mirror holding nothing'; 'profundity of knowledge' is thus irrelevant. Option C is eliminated by 'Be pure emptiness'; 'freedom from emptiness' would thus be antonymous. Option D is eliminated by ' Contain all human faces in your own without any judgement of them'; 'being a fine judge of human quality' is thus antonymous to the received wisdom. Option E is neglected by 'this love path has no expectations'. 'Silence is all' fortifies option B.
For the following questions answer them individually
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 erosion on 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?
Solution
The relation can be depicted as follows(Variables -------> Function):
The velocity of the wind and of fetch, the length of the surface of the water subject to those winds -------> Size of oceanic waves
Size of the waves and the shape of the sea bottom ------->The average impact of waves against a coastline
The average impact of waves against a coastline, the geologic composition of the coastline -------> The degree of erosion on the coastline
Since only option E is following the flow, the correct option is E.
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?
Solution
The central idea of the given paragraph is that Indian religious and ethical space is different from that of the western countries. The remaining part of the paragraph explains how Indian religious works placed emphasis on the concept of Dharma. The author is trying to promote Dharma as something unique to the Indian culture. Therefore, any idea that challenges this assumption will make the paragraph redundant. Option E states that the western culture also places emphasis on human values and dharma, taking away the uniqueness of Indian culture. Therefore, option E is the right answer.
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?
Solution
Option A: Since a group of employees attended the program, a change in the openness of only one participant does not give much incentive to the CEO to give the approval. Thus, this is not the correct option.
Option B: Although this option speaks well of the programme, it does not provide any evidence of the efficacy of the programme. Thus, this is not the correct option.
Option C: Since this option provides consolidation to the efficacy of the program, this is the correct answer. This option is the least likely to have a logical fallacy, as it refers to internal studies that suggest a causal link between 'openness' and a desirable outcome (increased innovation). While the quality of these studies is unknown, the argument attempts to use evidence rather than relying on anecdotes, authority, false choices, or emotional appeals.
Option D: Giving his CEO an ultimatum is not a good idea for the approval. Thus, this is not the correct option.
Option E: Emotional appeal will have a similar effect as that of the previous option. Thus, this is not the correct option.
Thus, the correct option is C.
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?
Solution
Statement 1: This is a distorted inference drawn from the passage and hence is not a correct statement.
Statement 2: Since vocalists are not inside the scope of the paragraph, this is not a correct statement.
Statement 3: "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."
From the above lines, it can be inferred that playing brain games does not integrate various senses and movements as much as playing a musical instrument.
Thus, this is a correct statement.
Statement 4: This is a distorted inference as it is nowhere mentioned or implied that the five senses are critical in the business world and hence is not a correct statement.
Thus, the correct option is C.
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:
Solution
The last part of the sentence, "made him talk back," indicates that he considered himself a calm person. Among the options, nonchalant means calm and relaxed. Thus, the first blank will be filled with "nonchalant".
Thus, the possible answers are A and E.
By the context of the passage, the last blank must have a word meaning a feeling of emptiness or dissatisfaction. Thus, the perfect choice for the blank is "ennui".
Hence, the answer is option A.
