The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question.
Today we can hardly conceive of ourselves without an unconscious. Yet between 1700 and 1900, this notion developed as a genuinely original thought. The “unconscious” burst the shell of conventional language, coined as it had been to embody the fleeting ideas and the shifting conceptions of several generations until, finally, it became fixed and defined in specialized terms within the realm of medical psychology and Freudian psychoanalysis.
The vocabulary concerning the soul and the mind increased enormously in the course of the nineteenth century. The enrichments of literary and intellectual language led to an altered understanding of the meanings that underlie time-honored expressions and traditional catchwords. At the same time, once coined, powerful new ideas attracted to themselves a whole host of seemingly unrelated issues, practices, and experiences, creating a peculiar network of preoccupations that as a group had not existed before. The drawn-out attempt to approach and define the unconscious brought together the spiritualist and the psychical researcher of borderline phenomena (such as apparitions, spectral illusions, haunted houses, mediums, trance, automatic writing); the psychiatrist or alienist probing the nature of mental disease, of abnormal ideation, hallucination, delirium, melancholia, mania; the surgeon performing operations with the aid of hypnotism; the magnetizer claiming to correct the disequilibrium in the universal flow of magnetic fluids but who soon came to be regarded as a clever manipulator of the imagination; the physiologist and the physician who puzzled over sleep, dreams, sleepwalking, anesthesia, the influence of the mind on the body in health and disease; the neurologist concerned with the functions of the brain and the physiological basis of mental life; the philosopher interested in the will, the emotions, consciousness, knowledge, imagination and the creative genius; and, last but not least, the psychologist.
Significantly, most if not all of these practices (for example, hypnotism in surgery or psychological magnetism) originated in the waning years of the eighteenth century and during the early decades of the nineteenth century, as did some of the disciplines (such as psychology and psychical research). The majority of topics too were either new or assumed hitherto unknown colors. Thus, before 1790, few if any spoke, in medical terms, of the affinity between creative genius and the hallucinations of the insane . . .
Striving vaguely and independently to give expression to a latent conception, various lines of thought can be brought together by some novel term. The new concept then serves as a kind of resting place or stocktaking in the development of ideas, giving satisfaction and a stimulus for further discussion or speculation. Thus, the massive introduction of the term unconscious by Hartmann in 1869 appeared to focalize many stray thoughts, affording a temporary feeling that a crucial step had been taken forward, a comprehensive knowledge gained, a knowledge that required only further elaboration, explication, and unfolding in order to bring in a bounty of higher understanding. Ultimately, Hartmann’s attempt at defining the unconscious proved fruitless because he extended its reach into every realm of organic and inorganic, spiritual, intellectual, and instinctive existence, severely diluting the precision and compromising the impact of the concept.
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RCWhich one of the following sets of words is closest to mapping the main arguments of the passage?
- Imagination; Magnetism; Psychiatry.
- Unconscious; Latent conception; Dreams.
- Language; Unconscious; Psychoanalysis.
- Literary language; Unconscious; Insanity.
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Explanatory Answer
The passage describes in detail how the introduction of the term unconscious by Hartmann in 1869 appeared to focalize various fleeting ideas and shifting conceptions over nearly two centuries, till it became fixed and defined within the realm of medical psychology and Freudian psychoanalysis. Option C touches upon all key aspects of the passage.
Options A, B and D are easily eliminated due to terms such as imagination, magnetism, dreams, literary language and insanity appearing in them. These do not represent the main arguments of the passage.
The question is ” Which one of the following sets of words is closest to mapping the main arguments of the passage? “
Hence, the answer is ‘Language; Unconscious; Psychoanalysis.’
Choice C is the correct answer.
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RCWhich one of the following statements best describes what the passage is about?
- The discovery of the unconscious as a part of the human mind.
- The identification of the unconscious as an object of psychical research.
- The collating of diverse ideas under the single term: unconscious.
- The growing vocabulary of the soul and the mind, as diverse processes.
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Explanatory Answer
The passage states in the first paragraph that the term unconscious ‘burst the shell of conventional language, coined as it had been to embody the fleeting ideas and the shifting conceptions of several generations until, finally, it became fixed and defined in specialized terms within the realm of medical psychology and Freudian psychoanalysis.’ It goes on to detail how various conceptions and ideas came together between 1700 and 1900, and how the ‘massive introduction of the term unconscious by Hartmann in 1869 appeared to focalize many stray thoughts’. Option C sums up what the passage is about best.
The question is ” Which one of the following statements best describes what the passage is about? “
Hence, the answer is ‘The collating of diverse ideas under the single term: unconscious.’
Choice C is the correct answer.
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RC”The enrichments of literary and intellectual language led to an altered understanding of the meanings that underlie time-honored expressions and traditional catchwords.” Which one of the following interpretations of this sentence would be closest in meaning to the original?
- The meanings of time-honored expressions were changed by innovations in literary and intellectual language.
- Time-honored expressions and traditional catchwords were enriched by literary and intellectual language.
- All of the options listed here.
- Literary and intellectual language was altered by time-honored expressions and traditional catchwords.
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Explanatory Answer
The given sentence states that the enrichment- improvement/refinement- of literary and intellectual language changed the understanding of the meaning of time-honoured expressions and traditional catchwords. Option A is the correct interpretation.
The answer is ‘The meanings of time-honored expressions were changed by innovations in literary and intellectual language.’
Choice A is the correct answer.
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RCAll of the following statements may be considered valid inferences from the passage, EXCEPT:
- New conceptions in the nineteenth century could provide new knowledge because of the establishment of fields such as anaesthesiology.
- Unrelated practices began to be treated as related to each other, as knowledge of the mind grew in the nineteenth century.
- Eighteenth century thinkers were the first to perceive a connection between creative genius and insanity.
- Without the linguistic developments of the nineteenth century, the growth of understanding of the soul and the mind may not have happened.
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Explanatory Answer
Option A cannot be inferred from the passage. The passage does not mention anaesthesiology. It only says that with the introduction of the term ‘unconscious’, it seemed that this new knowledge could, with further elaboration and exploring, provide a bounty of higher understanding.
Option B can be inferred based on the various examples cited in the second paragraph of the passage.
The passage says that ‘…before 1790, few if any spoke, in medical terms, of the affinity between creative genius and the hallucinations of the insane…’. That is, eighteenth century thinkers were the first to perceive a connection between creative genius and insanity.
Option D states one of the key ideas of the passage: ‘The vocabulary concerning the soul and the mind increased enormously in the course of the nineteenth century. The enrichments of literary and intellectual language led to an altered understanding of the meanings that underlie time-honored expressions and traditional catchwords. At the same time, once coined, powerful new ideas attracted to themselves a whole host of seemingly unrelated issues, practices, and experiences, creating a peculiar network of preoccupations that as a group had not existed before.’
The question is ” All of the following statements may be considered valid inferences from the passage, EXCEPT: “
Hence, the answer is ‘New conceptions in the nineteenth century could provide new knowledge because of the establishment of fields such as anaesthesiology.’
Choice A is the correct answer.
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RC”It’s a bit like fuel use in a car. Just because I’m using more fuel doesn’t mean that I’m going faster or further . . .” What is the purpose of this example?
- If you go faster in a car, you will tend to consume more fuel, but the converse is not necessarily true. In the same way, increased entropy does not necessarily mean greater accuracy of a clock.
- The further you go in a car, the more fuel you use. In the same way, the faster you go in a car, the less time you use.
- If you measure the speed of a car with a grandfather clock, the result will be different than if you measured it with an atomic clock.
- The further and faster you go in a car, the greater the amount of fuel you will use, the greater the amount of heat produced and, hence, the greater the entropy.
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Explanatory Answer
Note what the passage says before citing the example of fuel usage in a car: ‘The relationship that the researchers found is a limit on the accuracy of a clock, so it doesn’t mean that a clock that creates the most possible entropy would be maximally accurate’. Just as increased fuel usage in a car does not imply that it is going faster or farther, increased entropy does not mean increased accuracy.
The question is ” “It’s a bit like fuel use in a car. Just because I’m using more fuel doesn’t mean that I’m going faster or further . . .” What is the purpose of this example? “
Hence, the answer is ‘If you go faster in a car, you will tend to consume more fuel, but the converse is not necessarily true. In the same way, increased entropy does not necessarily mean greater accuracy of a clock.’
Choice A is the correct answer.
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RCThe author makes all of the following arguments in the passage, EXCEPT that:
- The relationship between accuracy and entropy may not apply to all clocks.
- Researchers found that the heat produced in a system is the price paid for increased accuracy of measurement.
- There is no difference in accuracy between an inefficient grandfather clock and an atomic clock.
- In designing clocks for quantum computers, both precision and heat have to be taken into account.
Details
The official answer key says option B but we believe the right option is C.
The author does not say there is no difference in accuracy between a grandfather clock and an atomic clock. In fact he clearly states the opposite: ‘…a large, inefficient grandfather clock isn’t more precise than an atomic clock.’ So, option C is not an argument made in the passage.
On the other hand, option B is an argument the author makes in the first paragraph: ‘..the researchers found that as they increased the clock’s accuracy, the heat produced in the system grew, increasing the entropy of its surroundings by jostling nearby particles . . . “If a clock is more accurate, you are paying for it somehow,” says Ares.’
Options A and D are easily verified to be true, based on the lines ‘The relationship that the researchers found is a limit on the accuracy of a clock, so it doesn’t mean that a clock that creates the most possible entropy would be maximally accurate’, and ‘Understanding this relationship could be helpful for designing clocks in the future, particularly those used in quantum computers and other devices where both accuracy and temperature are crucial…’.
The question is ” The author makes all of the following arguments in the passage, EXCEPT that: “
Hence, the answer is ‘Researchers found that the heat produced in a system is the price paid for increased accuracy of measurement.’
Choice B is the correct answer.
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RCWhich one of the following sets of words and phrases serves best as keywords of the passage?
- Electric current; Heat; Quantum effects.
- Silicon Nitride; Energy; Grandfather Clock.
- Measuring Time; Accuracy; Entropy.
- Membrane; Arrow of time; Entropy.
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Explanatory Answer
‘Measuring time’, ‘accuracy’ and ‘entropy’ are key ideas in the passage. None of the given options but C mentions ‘measuring time’, which is what the passage is about.
The question is ” Which one of the following sets of words and phrases serves best as keywords of the passage? “
Hence, the answer is ‘Measuring Time; Accuracy; Entropy.’
Choice C is the correct answer.
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RC None of the following statements can be inferred from the passage EXCEPT that:
- the arrow of time has not yet been tested for atomic clocks.
- quantum computers are likely to produce more heat and, hence, more entropy, because of the emphasis on their clocks’ accuracy.
- grandfather clocks are likely to produce less heat and, hence, less entropy, because they are not as accurate.
- a clock with a 50-nanometre-thick membrane of silicon nitride has been made to vibrate, producing electric currents.
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Explanatory Answer
‘None of the following statements can be inferred except…’ implies only one of the given statements can be inferred. According to the passage, ‘Keeping time accurately comes with a price. The maximum accuracy of a clock is directly related to how much disorder, or entropy, it creates every time it ticks.’ Since quantum computers are, according to the passage, ‘devices where both accuracy and temperature are crucial’, it can be inferred that quantum computers are likely to produce more heat and, hence, more entropy, because of the emphasis on accuracy. So, option B is the correct answer choice.
The passage only states that the ‘arrow of time’ may be related to increase in entropy in time keeping. Whether or not the arrow of time has been tested for atomic clocks cannot be inferred based on the information given in the passage.
According to the passage, higher accuracy in timekeeping leads to more heat and more entropy. The converse, however, is not necessarily true. So, option C, too, cannot be inferred.
In the experiment, the clock with a 50-nanometre-thick membrane of silicon nitride has been made to vibrate, using (not producing) electric currents. So, option D is incorrect.
The question is ” None of the following statements can be inferred from the passage EXCEPT that: “
Hence, the answer is ‘quantum computers are likely to produce more heat and, hence, more entropy, because of the emphasis on their clocks’ accuracy.’
Choice B is the correct answer.
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RCWhich one of the following statements best summarises the author’s position about Pinker’s book?
- Anatomical developments like the voice box play a key role in determining language acquisition skills.
- The universality of the “language instinct” counters claims that Pinker’s book is racist.
- The evolutionary and deterministic framework of Pinker’s book makes it racist.
- Culture and environment play a key role in shaping our acquisition of languages
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Explanatory Answer
The author calls Pinker’s book ‘brilliant, witty and altogether satisfying’. In response to the claim that the book is racist, the author states that Pinkers stresses on the ‘fundamental unity of humanity’ and ‘the universal grammar’ of language- the universality of ‘the language instinct’, in other words, to counter such claims. So, option B is the right choice.
Option C is the exact opposite of the author’s position.
According to the passage, Pinker argues that though chimps have the vocal apparatus to speak, their brains, unlike human brains, are unable to produce grammar as chimps do not have the ‘language instinct’. The author agrees with Pinker’s view, so option A is incorrect.
Again, option D is also incorrect, based on the last paragraph. The author says that while some behavioral psychologists and anthropologists believe human behavior may be changed for the better by improvements in culture and environment, Pinker’s position (one that the author agrees with) is that the roots of language are in the genes.
The question is ” Which one of the following statements best summarises the author’s position about Pinker’s book? “
Hence, the answer is ‘The universality of the “language instinct” counters claims that Pinker’s book is racist.’
Choice B is the correct answer.
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RCAccording to the passage, all of the following are true about the language instinct EXCEPT that:
- all intelligent primates are gifted with it.
- not all intelligent primates are gifted with it.
- developments in neuroscience have increased its acceptance.
- it confers an evolutionary reproductive advantage.
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Explanatory Answer
The question asks us to pick an option which is not true.
According to the passage, Pinker ‘effectively disposes of all claims that intelligent nonhuman primates like chimps have any abilities to learn and use language.’ So, option A is not true (and hence the correct answer choice).
Option B is the exact opposite of A, and clearly true, as seen above.
According to the passage, a half-century ago, Chomsky/Pinker’s idea of universal grammar ‘would have been pooh-poohed as a “black box” theory’ but ‘neurosurgeons [have now found that this] “black box” is situated in and around Broca’s area, on the left side of the forebrain’. So, option C is true.
The passage states that, according to Pinker, ‘….the “language instinct,” when it first appeared among our most distant hominid ancestors, must have given them a selective reproductive advantage over their competitors (including the ancestral chimps)’. So, option D is also true.
The question is ” According to the passage, all of the following are true about the language instinct EXCEPT that: “
Hence, the answer is ‘all intelligent primates are gifted with it.’
Choice A is the correct answer.
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RCFrom the passage, it can be inferred that all of the following are true about Pinker’s book, “The Language Instinct”, EXCEPT that Pinker:
- writes in a different style from Chomsky.
- disagrees with Chomsky on certain grounds.
- draws extensively from Chomsky’s propositions.
- draws from behavioural psychology theories.
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Explanatory Answer
In the last paragraph, the passage states that Pinker’s proposition that the roots of language must be in the genes will ‘undoubtedly raise the hackles of some behavioral psychologists and anthropologists, for it apparently contradicts the liberal idea that human behavior may be changed for the better by improvements in culture and environment’. So, Pinker’s position is at variance with that of behavioural psychologists. Option D is not true about Pinker’s book.
According to the passage, while Chomsky’s book was full of ‘theoretical linguistics, in discourse so opaque that it was nearly incomprehensible even to some scholars’, Pinker’s book is ‘brilliant, witty and altogether satisfying’. So, option A is true.
That Pinker disagrees with Chomsky on some grounds is mentioned in the last line of the first paragraph, as well as in the third paragraph, where the passage states that ‘Unlike Mr. Chomsky, Mr. Pinker firmly places the wiring of the brain for language within the framework of Darwinian natural selection and evolution’. So, option B is true.
Pinker’s book, according to the passage, ‘has brought Mr. Chomsky’s findings to everyman’. So, option C is also true.
The question is ” From the passage, it can be inferred that all of the following are true about Pinker’s book, “The Language Instinct”, EXCEPT that Pinker: “
Hence, the answer is ‘draws from behavioural psychology theories.’
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RC On the basis of the information in the passage, Pinker and Chomsky may disagree with each other on which one of the following points?
- The possibility of a universal grammar.
- The Darwinian explanatory paradigm for language.
- The language instinct.
- The inborn language acquisition skills of humans.
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Explanatory Answer
Note the line: ‘Unlike Mr. Chomsky, Mr. Pinker firmly places the wiring of the brain for language within the framework of Darwinian natural selection and evolution.’ So, Pinker and Chomsky may disagree on the Darwinian explanatory paradigm for language.
The question is ” On the basis of the information in the passage, Pinker and Chomsky may disagree with each other on which one of the following points? “
Hence, the answer is ‘The Darwinian explanatory paradigm for language.’
Choice B is the correct answer.
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RC Which one of the following statements best summarises the central point of the passage?
- Once the stuff of science fiction, nano-robots now feature in cutting-edge scientific research.
- Robots will use nano-robots on their feet and wheels to climb walls or move on ceilings.
- The field of robotics is likely to be featured more and more in comics like the New X-Men.
- Nano-robots made from molecules that react to water have become increasingly useful.
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Explanatory Answer
The central idea of the passage is that nano-robots, which were once part of science fiction and comics, have now come true, with scientific researchers making such autonomous devices from molecular parts. Option A is the correct choice.
Options B and D state some ideas from the passage, but not the central idea.
The question is ” Which one of the following statements best summarises the central point of the passage? “
Hence, the answer is ‘Once the stuff of science fiction, nano-robots now feature in cutting-edge scientific research.’
Choice A is the correct answer.
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RCWhich one of the following statements best captures the sense of the first paragraph?
- People who were infected by Nano-Sentinel robots became mutants who were called X-Men.
- None of the options listed here.
- Tiny sentinels called X-Men infected people, turning them into mutant robot overlords.
- The X-Men were mutant heroes who now had to battle tiny robots called Nano-Sentinels.
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Explanatory Answer
About the New X-Men, the first paragraph says that ‘Our mutant heroes had been battling giant robots called Sentinels for years, but suddenly these mechanical overlords spawned a new threat: Nano-Sentinels!’ So, option D is true
The question is ” Which one of the following statements best captures the sense of the first paragraph? “
Hence, the answer is ‘The X-Men were mutant heroes who now had to battle tiny robots called Nano-Sentinels.’
Choice D is the correct answer.
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RCWhich one of the following scenarios, if false, could be seen as supporting the passage?
- Nano-Sentinel-like robots are likely to be used to inject people to convert them into robots, cell by cell.
- There are two kinds of molecules used to make some nano-robots: one that reacts positively to water and the other negatively.
- Robots made from smart materials are likely to become part of our everyday lives in the future.
- Some hydrogels turn sticky when an electric current is passed through them; this potentially has very useful applications.
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Explanatory Answer
Trickily worded question. The scenario which if false, supports the passage is one that if true, is against the passage.
Of Nano-Sentinels, the passage states that ‘No, they won’t be invading our bodies and turning us into Sentinels’. That is, these Nano-Sentinel robots do not turn the body they are injected into to robots. So, option A, if true, goes against the passage. Hence, this is the correct answer choice.
The passage states that Nano-sentinels are ‘ assembled from two kinds of molecules – some that love water and some that avoid it’. So, option B is in line with the passage.
That robots made from smart materials are likely to become part of our everyday lives in the future is the central idea of the passage. So, C is also in line with the passage.
In the fourth paragraph, the passage discusses hydrogels and their applications. So, D is also in line with the passage.
The question is ” Which one of the following scenarios, if false, could be seen as supporting the passage? “
Hence, the answer is ‘Nano-Sentinel-like robots are likely to be used to inject people to convert them into robots, cell by cell.’
Choice A is the correct answer.
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RCWhich one of the following statements, if true, would be the most direct extension of the arguments in the passage?
- In the future, robots will be used to search and destroy diseases even in the deepest recesses of the human body.
- Sentinel robots will be used in warfare to cause large-scale destructive mutations amongst civilians.
- X-Men may be created by injecting people with mutant nano-gels that will respond to the brain’s magnetic field.
- 1-centimetre blobs of gel that have nano-robots in them will be used to send messages.
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Explanatory Answer
Option A is the direct extension of ‘some of them could one day swim through our bloodstream to heal us. They could also clean up pollutants in water or fold themselves into different kinds of vehicles for us to drive.’
The question is ” Which one of the following statements, if true, would be the most direct extension of the arguments in the passage? “
Hence, the answer is ‘In the future, robots will be used to search and destroy diseases even in the deepest recesses of the human body.’
Choice A is the correct answer.
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RC The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4) below, when properly sequenced would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer:
1. Businesses find automation, such as robotic employees, a big asset in terms of productivity and efficiency.
2. But in recent years, robotics has had increasing impacts on unemployment, not just of manual labour, as computers are rapidly handling some white-collar and service-sector work.
3. For years politicians have promised workers that they would bring back their jobs by clamping down on trade, offshoring and immigration.
4. Economists, based on their research, say that the bigger threat to jobs now is not globalization but automation.
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- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RC Five jumbled up sentences, related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd one out and key in the number of the sentence as your answer:
1. They often include a foundation course on navigating capitalism with Chinese characteristics and have replaced typical cases from US corporates with a focus on how Western theories apply to China’s buzzing local firms.
2. The best Chinese business schools look like their Western rivals but are now growing distinct in terms of what they teach and the career boost they offer.
3. Western schools have enhanced their offerings with double degrees, popular with domestic and overseas students alike-and boosted the prestige of their Chinese partners.
4. For students, a big draw is the chance to rub shoulders with captains of China’s private sector.
5. Their business courses now largely cater to the growing demand from China Inc which has become more global, richer and ready to recruit from this sinocentric student body.Correct
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Explanatory Answer
Sentence 3 is the best opening sentence. 34 is a unit: 3 identifies trade, offshoring and immigration as threats to jobs, while 4 states that the bigger threat now is automation. 1 continues the idea in 4, stating the value that businesses find in automation. 2 adds to 1 and concludes the paragraph, elaborating on the impact of robotics on unemployment. 3412 is a cogent paragraph.
The answer is ‘3412’
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RCThe four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4) below, when properly sequenced would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer:
1. It is regimes of truth that make certain relationships speakable – relationships, like subjectivities, are constituted through discursive formations, which sustain regimes of truth.
2. Relationships are nothing without the communication that brings them into being; interpersonal communication is connected to knowledge shared by interlocutors, and scholars should attend to relational histories in their analyses.
3. A Foucauldian approach to relationships goes beyond these conceptions of discourse and history to macrolevel regimes of truth as constituting relationships.
4. Reconsidering micropractices within relationships that are constituted within and simultaneously contributors to regimes of truth acknowledges the central position of power/knowledge in the constitution of what has come to be considered true and real.
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Explanatory Answer
While all other sentences relate to Chinese business schools and the courses they offer, sentence 3 relates to Western schools and their offerings. So, 3 is the odd one out.
2514 makes a cogent paragraph, with 2 opening the paragraph stating how Chinese schools are growing distinct from their Western counterparts, 5 and 1 adding to 2 in terms of the courses offered and 4 concluding the paragraph with the additional incentive that these schools provide Chinese students.
The answer is ‘3’
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RCThe four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4) below, when properly sequenced would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer:
1. Restitution of artefacts to original cultures could faces legal obstacles, as many Western museums are legally prohibited from disposing off their collections.
2. This is in response to countries like Nigeria, which are pressurising European museums to return their precious artefacts looted by colonisers in the past.
3. Museums in Europe today are struggling to come to terms with their colonial legacy, some taking steps to return artefacts but not wanting to lose their prized collections.
4. Legal hurdles notwithstanding, politicians and institutions in France and Germany would now like to defuse the colonial time bombs, and are now backing the return of part of their holdings.
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Explanatory Answer
Sentence 2 offers the best start to the paragraph and talks about the importance of relational histories in the analysis of interpersonal communication. Sentences 1, 3 and 4 relate to the idea of ‘regimes of truth’, which is first introduced in 3, which talks about a Foucaldian approach going beyond the existing conceptions of discourse and history. So, 3 follows 2. Sentence 1 expands on ‘regimes of truth’ and how they make relationships speakable and sustain them. Sentence 4 adds to 1 and concludes the paragraph.
The answer is ‘2314’
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RCFive jumbled up sentences, related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd one out and key in the number of the sentence as your answer:
1. A typical example is Wikipedia, where the overwhelming majority of contributors are male and so the available content is skewed to reflect their interests.
2. Without diversity of thought and representation, society is left with a distorted picture of future options, which are likely to result in augmenting existing inequalities.
3. Gross gender inequality in the technology sector is problematic, not only for the industry-wide marginalisation of women, but because technology designs embody the values of their makers.
4. While redressing unequal representation in the workplace is a step in the right direction, broader social change is needed to address the structural inequalities embedded within the current organisation of work and employment.
5. If technology merely reflects the perspectives of the male stereotype, then new technologies are unlikely to accommodate the diverse social contexts within which they operate.Correct
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Explanatory Answer
Sentence 3 is the best opening sentence. Sentence 3 talks about some European museums taking steps to return artefacts; 2 states what these steps are in response to. So, we have the order 32. 14 is a unit, with 1 talking about the legal hurdles in the restitution of artefacts and 4 following this up with what some countries would like to do, legal hurdles notwithstanding. So, 3214 is the correct order.
The answer is ‘3214’
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RCThe 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.- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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Explanatory Answer
While all other sentences are about gender inequality in the technology sector and its impact on society, sentence 4 is more general, about structural inequalities in the current organisation of work and employment.
3512 makes a cogent paragraph, with 3 stating the main idea of the paragraph, 5 adding on to 3, 1 citing an example to support 5 and 2 concluding the paragraph.
The answer is ‘4’
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RCThe 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.- Most Brazilians feel they have benefitted from recent economic events, but the poor continue to be dealt unfairly by the state.
- Economic reforms have benefitted many Brazilians, but they are unaware of the impending problems from rising inequalities in their society.
- With rising incomes and falling unemployment, most Brazilians are being misled into thinking that their economy is doing well.
- Good economic indicators have masked the unfair taxation of the poor that is likely to destabilise the Brazilian economy in the next few years.
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Explanatory Answer
The paragraph given presents two opposing views on hard work. In one view, hard work has led to meaningless jobs as people strive to keep busy at all costs, while in the opposing view, hard work has brought about innovation and comfort. Option D sums up the paragraph well.
Option A is incorrect, as it states that hard work has ‘led to greater idleness’. The paragraph does not say so.
Option B presents a one-sided view and is hence incorrect.
The paragraph does not talk about the importance of leisure time. So, option C is also incorrect.
The answer is ‘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.’
Choice D is the correct answer.
- CAT 2021 Slot 1 – VA RCThe 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.- Intuitions are automatic processes and are therefore faster than rational thought, and so decisions based on them are better.
- Intuition draws from deep memory, and may not be related to data, but to decades of diverse qualitative experience.
- Intuition is infinitely richer than big data which is based on rational thought and accomplishes more than what big data can.
- Intuitions are neuro-chemical firings based on pattern recognition and draw upon a rich and vast database of experiences
Explanatory Answer
This paragraph explains how intuition works: the human mind draws upon a ‘deep memory well’ based on decades of diverse qualitative experience to subconsciously spot patterns and fire neurochemicals in the brain and gut. Of the given options, D sums up the paragraph best.
Option A states that decisions based on intuitions are ‘better’. The paragraph does not say so.
Option B is incorrect as it says intuitions ‘may not be related to data’. This is the opposite of what the paragraph states.
Option C implies big data is based on rational thought while intuition is not. This is incorrect.
The answer is ‘Intuitions are neuro-chemical firings based on pattern recognition and draw upon a rich and vast database of experiences.’
Choice D is the correct answer.
