CAT CRITICAL REASONING 1999ù2006.pdf
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CAT CRITICAL REASONING: 1999—2006
TYPE 1: Logical Completion of a Paragraph (CAT: 2005 & 2006) Directions for Questions 1 to 9: Each of the following questions has a paragraph from which the last sentence has been deleted. Some of the questions have four options and some have five options. From the given options, choose the one that completes the paragraph in the most appropriate way. 1.. Federer’s fifth grand slam win prompted a reporter to ask whether he was the best ever. Federer is certainly not lacking in confidence, but he wasn’t about to proclaim himself the best ever. “The best player of this generation, yes”, he said, “But nowhere close to ever. Just look at the records that some guys have. I’m a minnow.” ________________________________ 1. 2. 3. 4. His win against Agassi, a genius from the previous generation, contradicts that. Sampras, the king of an earlier generation, was as humble. He is more than a minnow to his contemporaries. The difference between ‘the best of this generation’ and ‘the best ever’ is a matter of perception.
2. Thus the end of knowledge and the closing of the frontier that it symbolizes is not a looming crisis at all, but merely one of the many embarrassing fits of hubris in civilization’s long industry. In the end , it will pass away and be forgotten. Ours is not the first generation to struggle to understand the organizational laws of the frontier, deceive itself that it has succeeded, and go to its grave having failed. _________________________________ 1. 2. 3. 4. One would be wise to be humble. But we might be the first generation to actually reach the frontier. But we might be the first generation to deal with the crisis. However, this time the success is not illusory.
3. Most firms consider expert individuals to be too elitist, temperamental, egocentric, and difficult to work with. Force such people to collaborate on a high-stakes project and they might come to fisticuffs. Even the very notion of managing such a group seems unimaginable. So most organizations fall into default mode, setting up project teams of people who get along nicely. ____________________________ 1. 2. 3. 4. The result, however, is disastrous. The result is mediocrity. The result is creation of experts who then become elitists. Naturally, they drive innovations.
4. The audiences for crosswords and sudoku, understandably, overlap greatly, but there are differences, too. A crossword attracts a more literary person, while sudoku appeals to a keenly logical mind. Some crossword enthusiasts turn up their noses at sudoku because they feel it lacks depth. A good crossword requires vocabulary, knowledge, mental flexibility and sometimes even a sense of humor to complete. It touches numerous areas of life and provides an “Aha!” or two along the way. ______________________ 1. 2. 3. 4. Sudoku, on the other hand, is just a logical exercise, each one similar to the last. Sudoku, incidentally, is growing faster in popularity than crosswords, even among the literati. Sudoku, on the other hand, can be attempted and enjoyed even by children. Sudoku, however, is not exciting in any sense of the term.
5. Relations between the factory and the dealer are distant and usually strained as the factory tries to force cars on the dealers to smooth out production. Relations between the dealer and the customer are equally strained because dealers continuously adjust prices—make deals—to adjust demand with supply while maximizing profits. This becomes a system marked by a lack of longterm commitment on either side, which maximizes feelings of mistrust. In order to maximize their bargaining positions,
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everyone holds back information—the dealer about the product and the consumer about his true desires. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) As a result, ‘deal making’ becomes rampant, without concern for customer satisfaction. As a result, inefficiencies creep into the supply chain. As a result, everyone treats the other as an adversary, rather than as an ally. As a result, fundamental innovations are becoming scarce in the automobile industry. As a result, everyone loses in the long run.
6. We can usefully think of theoretical models as maps, which help us navigate unfamiliar territory. The most accurate map that it is possible to construct would be of no practical use whatsoever, for it would be an exact replica, on exactly the same scale, of the place where we were. Good maps pull out the most important features and throw away a huge amount of much less valuable information. Of course, maps can be bad as well as good—witness the attempts by medieval Europe to produce a map of the world. In the same way, a bad theory, no matter how impressive it may seem in principle, does little or nothing to help us understand a problem. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) But good theories, just like good maps, are invaluable, even if they are simplified. But good theories, just like good maps, will never represent unfamiliar concepts in detail. But good theories, just like good maps, need to balance detail and feasibility of representation. But good theories, just like good maps, are accurate only at a certain level of abstraction. But good theories, just like good maps, are useful in the hands of a user who knows their limitations.
7. In the evolving world order, the comparative advantage of the United States lies in its military force. Diplomacy and international law have always been regarded as annoying encumbrances, unless they can be used to advantage against an enemy. Every active player in world affairs professes to seek only peace and to prefer negotiation to violence and coercion. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) However, diplomacy has often been used as a mask by nations which intended to use force. However, when the veil is lifted, we commonly see that diplomacy is understood as a disguise for the rule of force. However, history has shown that many of these nations do not practise what they profess. However, history tells us that peace is professed by those who intend to use violence. However, when unmasked, such nations reveal a penchant for the use of force.
8. I am sometimes attacked for imposing ‘rules’. Nothing could be further from the truth. I hate rules. All I do is report on how consumers react to different stimuli. I may say to a copywriter, “Research shows that commercials with celebrities are below average in persuading people to buy products. Are you sure you want to use a celebrity?” Call that a rule? Or I may say to an art director, “Research suggests that if you set the copy in black type on a white background, more people will read it than if you set it in white type on a black background.” (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Guidance based on applied research can hardly qualify as ‘rules’. Thus, all my so called ‘rules’ are rooted in applied research. A suggestion perhaps, but scarcely a rule. Such principles are unavoidable if one wants to be systematic about consumer behaviour. Fundamentally it is about consumer behaviour—not about celebrities or type settings.
9. Age has a curvilinear relationship with the exploitation of opportunity. Initially, age will increase the likelihood that a person will exploit an entrepreneurial opportunity because people gather much of the knowledge necessary to exploit opportunities over the course of their lives, and because age provides credibility in transmitting that information to others. However, as people become older, their willingness to bear risks declines, their opportunity costs rise, and they become less receptive to new information. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) As a result, people transmit more information rather than experiment with new ideas as they reach an advanced age. As a result, people are reluctant to experiment with new ideas as they reach an advanced age. As a result, only people with lower opportunity costs exploit opportunity when they reach an advanced age. As a result, people become reluctant to exploit entrepreneurial opportunities when they reach an advanced age. As a result, people depend on credibility rather than on novelty as they reach an advanced age.
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TYPE 2: Summary of a Passage (CAT Feb 04 & Nov 04) Directions for Questions 1 to 9: Four alternative summaries are given below each text. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the text. 1. You seemed at first to take no notice of your school-fellows, or rather to set yourself against them because they were strangers to you. They knew as little of you as you did of them; this would have been the reason for their keeping aloof from you as well, which you would have felt as a hardship. Learn never to conceive a prejudice against others because you know nothing of them. It is bad reasoning, and makes enemies of half the world. Do not think ill of them till they behave ill to you; and then strive to avoid the faults which you see in them. This will disarm their hostility sooner than pique or resentment or complaint. 1. The discomfort you felt with your school fellows was because both sides knew little of each other. You should not complain unless you find others prejudiced against you and have attempted to carefully analyze the faults you have observed in them. The discomfort you felt with your school fellows was because both sides knew little of each other. Avoid prejudice and negative thoughts till you encounter bad behaviour from others, and then win them over by shunning the faults you have observed. You encountered hardship amongst your school fellows because you did not know them well. You should learn to not make enemies because of your prejudices irrespective of their behaviour towards you. You encountered hardship amongst your school fellows because you did not know them well. You should learn to not make enemies because of your prejudices unless they behave badly with you.
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3. 4. 2.
The human race is spread all over the world, from the polar regions to the tropics. The people of whom it is made up eat different kinds of food, partly according to the climate in which they live, and partly according to the kind of food which their country produces. In hot climates, meat and fat are not much needed; but in the Arctic regions they seem to be very necessary for keeping up the heat of the body. Thus, in India, people live chiefly on different kinds of grains, eggs, milk, or sometimes fish and meat. In Europe, people eat more meat and less grain. In the Arctic regions, where no grains and fruits are produced, the Eskimo and other races live almost entirely on meat and fish. 1. 2. 3. 4. Food eaten by people in different regions of the world depends on the climate and the produce of the region, and varies from meat and fish in the Arctic to predominantly grains in the tropics. Hot climates require people to eat grains while cold regions require people to eat meat and fish. In hot countries people eat mainly grains while in the Arctic, they eat meat and fish because they cannot grow grains. While people in Arctic regions like meat and fish and those in hot regions like India prefer mainly grains, they have to change what they eat depending on the local climate and the local produce.
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Although almost all climate scientists agree that the Earth is gradually warming, they have long been of two minds about the process of rapid climate shifts within larger periods of change. Some have speculated that the process works like a giant oven or freezer, warming or cooling the whole planet at the same time. Others think that shifts occur on opposing schedules in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, like exaggerated seasons. Recent research in Germany examining climate patterns in the Southern Hemisphere at the end of the last Ice Age strengthens the idea that warming and cooling occurs at alternate times in the hemispheres. A more definitive answer to this debate will allow scientists to better predict when and how quickly the next climate shift will happen. 1. 2. 3. 4. Scientists have been unsure whether rapid shifts in the Earth’s climate happen all at once or on opposing schedules in different hemispheres; research will help find a definitive answer and better predict climate shifts in future. Scientists have been unsure whether rapid shifts in the Earth’s climate happen all at once or on opposing schedules in different hemispheres; finding a definitive answer will help them better predict climate shifts in future. Research in Germany will help scientists find a definitive answer about warming and cooling of the Earth and predict climate shifts in the future in a better manner. More research rather than debates on warming or
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cooling of the Earth and exaggerated seasons in its
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hemispheres will help scientists in Germany predict climate changes better in future. 4. Modern bourgeois society, said Nietzsche, was decadent and enfeebled—a victim of the excessive development of the rational faculties at the expense of will and instinct. Against the liberal-rationalist stress on the intellect, Nietzsche urged recognition of the dark mysterious world of instinctual desires—the true forces of life. Smother the will with excessive intellectualizing and you destroy the spontaneity that sparks cultural creativity and ignites a zest for living. The critical and theoretical outlook destroys the creative instincts. For man’s manifold potential to be realized, he must forego relying on the intellect and nurture again the instinctual roots of human existence. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Nietzsche urges the decadent and enfeebled modern society to forego intellect and give importance to creative instincts. Nietzsche urges the decadent and enfeebled modern society to smother the will with excessive intellectualizing and ignite a zest for living. Nietzsche criticizes the intellectuals for enfeebling the modern bourgeois society by not nurturing man’s creative instincts. Nietzsche blames excessive intellectualization for the decline of modern society and suggests nurturing creative instincts instead.
Local communities have often come in conflict with agents trying to exploit resources, at a faster pace, for an expanding commercial-industrial economy. More often than not, such agents of resource-intensification are given preferential treatment by the state, through the grant of generous long leases over mineral or fish stocks, for example, or the provision of raw material at an enormously subsidized price. With the injustice so compounded, local communities at the receiving end of this process have no recourse except direct action, resisting both the state and outside exploiters through a variety of protest techniques. These struggles might perhaps be seen as a manifestation of a new kind of class conflict. 1. 2. 3. A new kind of class conflict arises from preferential treatment given to agents of resource-intensification by the state which the local community sees as unfair. The grant of long leases to agents of resource-intensification for an expanding commercial-industrial economy leads to direct protests from the local community, which sees it as unfair. Preferential treatment given by the state to agents of resource-intensification for an expanding commercial-industrial economy exacerbates injustice to local communities and leads to direct protests from them, resulting in a new type of class conflict. Local communities have no option but to protest against agents of resource-intensification and create a new type of class conflict when they are given raw material at subsidized prices for an expanding commercial-industrial economy.
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Some decisions will be fairly obvious—“no-brainers”. Your bank account is low, but you have a two-week vacation coming up and you want to get away to some place warm to relax with your family. Will you accept your in-laws’ offer of free use of their Florida beachfront condo? Sure. You like your employer and feel ready to move forward in your career. Will you step in for your boss for three weeks while she attends a professional development course? Of course. 1. 2. 3. 4. Some decisions are obvious under certain circumstances. You may, for example, readily accept a relative’s offer of free holiday accommodation. Or step in for your boss when she is away. Some decisions are no-brainers. You need not think when making them. Examples are condo offers from in-laws and job offers from bosses when your bank account is low or boss is away. Easy decisions are called “no-brainers” because they do not require any cerebral activity. Examples such as accepting free holiday accommodation abound in our lives. Accepting an offer from in-laws when you are short on funds and want a holiday is a no-brainer. Another no-brainer is taking the boss’s job when she is away.
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Physically, inertia is a feeling that you just can’t move; mentally, it is a sluggish mind. Even if you try to be sensitive, if your mind is sluggish, you just don’t feel anything intensely. 4You may even see a tragedy enacted in front of your eyes and
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not be able to respond meaningfully. You may see one person exploiting another, one group persecuting another, and not be able to get angry. Your energy is frozen. You are not deliberately refusing to act; you just don’t have the capacity. 1. 2. 3. 4. 8. Inertia makes your body and mind sluggish. They become insensitive to tragedies, exploitation, and persecution because it freezes your energy and decapacitates it. When you have inertia you don’t act although you see one person exploiting or one group persecuting another. You don’t get angry because you are incapable. Inertia is of two types—physical and mental. Physical inertia restricts bodily movements. Mental inertia prevents mental response to events enacted in front of your eyes. Physical inertia stops your body from moving; mental inertia freezes your energy, and stops your mind from responding meaningfully to events, even tragedies, in front of you.
Try before you buy. We use this memorable saying to urge you to experience the consequences of an alternative before you choose it, whenever this is feasible. If you are considering buying a van after having always owned sedans, rent one for a week or borrow a friend’s. By experiencing the consequences first hand, they become more meaningful. In addition, you are likely to identify consequences you had not even thought of before. May be you will discover that it is difficult to park the van in your small parking space at work, but that, on the other hand, your elderly father has a much easier time getting in and out of it. 1. 2. 3. 4. If you are planning to buy a van after being used to sedans, borrow a van or rent it and try it before deciding to buy it. Then you may realize that parking a van is difficult while it is easier for your elderly father to get in and out of it. Before choosing an alternative, experience its consequences if feasible. If, for example, you want to change from sedans to a van, try one before buying it. You will discover aspects you may never have thought of. Always try before you buy anything. You are bound to discover many consequences. One of the consequences of going in for a van is that it is more difficult to park than sedans at the office car park. We urge you to try products such as vans before buying them. Then you can experience consequences you have not thought of such as parking problems. But your father may find vans more comfortable than cars.
9.
It is important for shipping companies to be clear about the objectives for maintenance and materials management—as to whether the primary focus is on service level improvement or cost minimization. Often when certain systems are set in place, the cost minimization objective and associated procedure become more important than the flexibility required for service level improvement. The problem really arises since cost minimization tends to focus on out of pocket costs which are visible, while the opportunity costs, often greater in value, are lost sight of. 1. Shipping companies have to either minimize costs or maximize service quality. If they focus on cost minimization, they will reduce quality. They should focus on service level improvement, or else opportunity costs will be lost sight of. Shipping companies should determine the primary focus of their maintenance and materials management. Focus on cost minimization may reduce visible costs, but ignore greater invisible costs and impair service quality. Any cost minimization program in shipping is bound to lower the quality of service. Therefore, shipping companies must be clear about the primary focus of their maintenance and materials management before embarking on cost minimization. Shipping companies should focus on quality level improvement rather than cost cutting. Cost cutting will lead to untold opportunity costs. Companies should have systems in place to make the service level flexible.
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TYPE 3: Critical Reasoning (Miscellaneous) Directions for Questions 1 to 23: There are short passages given below. Read each of the passages and answer the question that follows it. [Recognize Factors that Strengthen or Weaken a Statement/Claim/Argument/Conclusion] 1. In a recent report, the gross enrolment ratios at the primary level, that is, the number of children enrolled in classes one to five as a proportion of all children aged 6 to 10, were shown to be very high for most states; in many cases they were way above 100 percent! These figures are not worth anything, since they are based on the official enrolment data compiled from school records. They might as well stand for ‘gross exaggeration ratios’. Which one of the following options best supports the claim that the ratios are exaggerated? 1. 2. 3. 4. 2. The definition of gross enrolment ratio does not exclude, in its numerator, children below 6 years or above 10 years enrolled in classes one to five. A school attendance study found that many children enrolled in the school records were not meeting a minimum attendance requirement of 80 percent. A study estimated that close to 22 percent of children enrolled in the class one records were below 6 years of age and still to start going to school. Demographic surveys show shifts in the population profile which indicate that the number of children in the age group 6 to 10 years is declining.
Szymanski suggests that the problem of racism in football may be present even today. He begins by verifying an earlier hypothesis that clubs’ wage bills explain 90% of their performance. Thus, if players’ salaries were to be only based on their abilities, clubs that spend more should finish higher. If there is pay discrimination against some group of players—fewer teams bidding for black players thus lowering the salaries for blacks with the same ability as whites—that neat relation may no longer hold. He concludes that certain clubs seem to have achieved much less than what they could have, by not recruiting black players. Which one of the following findings would best support Szymanski’s conclusion? 1. Certain clubs took advantage of the situation by hiring above-average shares of black players. 2. Clubs hired white players at relatively high wages and did not show proportionately good performance. 3. During the study period, clubs in towns with a history of discrimination against blacks under-performed relative to their wage bills. 4. Clubs in one region, which had higher proportions of black players, had significantly lower wage bills than their counterparts in another region which had predominantly white players.
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The pressure on Italy’s 257 jails has been increasing rapidly. Their jails are old and overcrowded. They are supposed to hold up to 43,000 people—9,000 fewer than now. San Vittore in Milan, which has 1,800 inmates is designed for 800. The number of foreigners inside jails has also been increasing. The minister in charge of prisons fears that tensions may snap, and so has recommended to the government an amnesty policy. Which one of the following, if true, would have most influenced the recommendation of the minister? 1. 2. 3. 4. Opinion polls have indicated that many Italians favour a general pardon. The opposition may be persuaded to help since amnesties must be approved by a two-thirds majority in parliament. During a recent visit to a large prison, the Pope, whose pronouncements are taken seriously, appealed for a ‘gesture of clemency’. Shortly before the recommendation was made, 58 prisons reported disturbances in a period of two weeks.
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4.
The offer of the government to make iodised salt available at a low price of one rupee per kilo is welcome, especially since the government seems to be so concerned about the ill effects of non-iodised salt. But it is doubtful whether the offer will actually be implemented. Way back in 1994, the government, in an earlier effort, had prepared reports outlining three new and simple but experimental methods for reducing the costs of iodisation to about five paise per kilo. But these reports have remained just those—reports on paper. Which one of the following, if true, most weakens the author’s contention that it is doubtful whether the offer will be actually implemented? 1. The government proposes to save on costs by using the three methods it has already devised for iodisation. 2. The chain of fair-price distribution outlets now covers all the districts of the state. 3. Many small-scale and joint-sector units have completed trials to use the three iodisation methods for regular production. 4. The government which initiated the earlier effort is in place even today and has more information on the effects of noniodised salt. Although in the limited sense of freedom regarding appointments and internal working, the independence of the Central Bank is unequivocally ensured, the same cannot be said of its right to pursue monetary policy without co-ordination with the central government. The role of the Central Bank has turned out to be subordinate and advisory in nature. Which one of the following best supports the conclusion drawn in the passage? 1. 2. 3. 4. A decision of the chairman of the Central Bank to increase the bank rate by two percentage points sent shock-waves in industry, academic and government circles alike. Government has repeatedly restored to monetisation of the debt despite the reservations of the Central Bank. The Central Bank does not need the central government’s nod for replacing soiled currency notes. The inability to remove coin shortage was a major shortcoming of this government.
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Three airlines—IA, JA and SA—operate on the Delhi-Mumbai route. To increase the number of seats sold, SA reduced its fares and this was emulated by IA and JA immediately. The general belief was that the volume of air travel between Delhi and Mumbai would increase as a result. Which of the following, if true, would add credence to the general belief? 1. Increase in profitability of the three airlines 2. Extension of the discount scheme to other routes. 3. A study that shows that air travellers in India are price-conscious. 4. A study that shows that as much as 80% of air travel in India is company-sponsored.
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Developed countries have made adequate provisions for social security for senior citizens. State insurers (as well as private ones) offer medicare and pension benefits to people who can no longer earn. In India, with the collapse of the joint family system, the traditional shelter of the elderly has disappeared. And a State faced with a financial crunch is not in a position to provide social security. So, it is advisable that the working population gives serious thought to building a financial base for itself. Which one of the following, if it were to happen, weakens the conclusion drawn in the above passage the most? 1. The investible income of the working population, as a proportion of its total income, will grow in the future. 2. The insurance sector is underdeveloped and trends indicate that it will be extensively privatized in the future. 3. India is on a path of development that will take it to a developed country status, with all its positive and negative implications.
4. If the working population builds a stronger financial base, there will be a revival of the joint family system.
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Various studies have shown that our forested and hilly regions and, in general, areas where biodiversity—as reflected in the variety of flora—is high, are the places where poverty appears to be high. And these same areas are also the ones where educational performance seems to be poor. Therefore, it may be surmised that, even disregarding poverty status, richness in biodiversity goes hand in hand with educational backwardness. Which one of the following statements, if true, can be said to best provide supporting evidence for the surmise mentioned in the passage? 1. In regions where there is little variety in flora, educational performance is seen to be as good as in regions with high variety in flora, when poverty levels are high. 2. Regions which show high biodiversity also exhibit poor educational performance, at low levels of poverty. 3. Regions which show high biodiversity reveal high levels of poverty and poor educational performance. 4. In regions where there is low biodiversity, at all levels of poverty, educational performance is seen to be good.
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Cigarettes constitute a mere 20% of tobacco consumption in India, and fewer than 15% of the 200 million tobacco users consume cigarettes. Yet these 15% contribute nearly 90% of the tax revenues to the Exchequer from the tobacco sector. The punitive cigarette taxation regime has kept the tax base narrow, and reducing taxes will expand this base. Which one of the following best bolsters the conclusion that reducing duties will expand the tax base? 1. The cigarette manufacturers’ association has decided to indulge in aggressive promotion. 2. There is a likelihood that tobacco consumers will shift to cigarette smoking if cigarette prices were to reduce. 3. The cigarette manufacturers are lobbying for a reduction on duties. 4. An increase in duties on non-cigarette tobacco may lead to a shift in favour of cigarette smoking.
10. Thomas Malthus, the British clergyman turned economist, predicted that the planet would not be able to support the human population for long. His explanation was that human population grows at a geometric rate, while the food supply grows only at an arithmetic rate. Which one of the following, if true, would not undermine the thesis offered by Malthus? 1. Population growth can be slowed down by the voluntary choices of individuals and not just by natural disasters. 2. The capacity of the planet to feed a growing human population can be enhanced through biotechnological means. 3. 4. Human systems, and natural systems like food supply, follow natural laws of growth which have remained constant, and will remain unchanged. Human beings can colonize other planetary systems on a regular and on-going basis to accommodate a growing population.
11. The company’s coffee crop for 1998-99 totalled 8079 tonnes, an all time record. The increase over the previous year’s production of 5830 tonnes was 38.58%. The previous highest crop was 6089 tonnes in 1970-71. The company had fixed a target of 8000 tonnes to be realized by the year 2000-01, and this has been achieved two years earlier, thanks to the emphasis laid on the key areas of irrigation, replacement of unproductive coffee bushes, intensive refilling and improved agricultural practices. It is now our endeavour to reach the target of 10000 tonnes in the year 2001-02. Which one of the following would contribute most to making the target of 10000 tonnes in 2001-02 unrealistic? 1. The potential of productivity enhancing measures implemented up to now has been exhausted. 2. The total company land under coffee has remained constant since 1969 when an estate in the Nilgiri Hills was acquired. 3. The sensitivity of the crop to climatic factors makes predictions about production uncertain. 4. The target-setting procedures in the company have been proved to be sound by the achievement of the 8000 tonnes target.
[Recognize Factors that Strengthen or Weaken the
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Prospects of Success of a Plan/Course of Action]
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12. Argentina’s beef cattle herd has dropped to under 50 million from 57 million ten years ago in 1990. The animals are worth less, too; prices fell by over a third last year, before recovering slightly. Most local meat packers and processors are in financial trouble, and recent years have seen a string of plant closures. The Beef Producers’ Association has now come up with a massive advertisement campaign calling upon Argentines to eat more beef—their “juicy, healthy, rotund, plate-filling” steaks. Which one of the following, if true, would contribute most to a failure of the campaign? 1. 2. 3. 4. There has been a change in consumer preference towards eating leaner meats like chicken and fish. Prices of imported beef have been increasing, thus making locally grown beef more competitive in terms of pricing. The inability to cross breed native cattle with improved varieties has not increased production to adequate levels. Animal rights pressure groups have come up rapidly, demanding better and humane treatment of farmyard animals like beef cattle.
13. The problem of traffic congestion in Athens has been testing the ingenuity of politicians and town planners for years. But the measures adopted to date have not succeeded in decreasing the number of cars on the road in the city centre. In 1980, an odds and evens number-plate legislation was introduced, under which odd and even plates were banned in the city on alternate days, thereby expecting to halve the number of cars in the city centre. Then in 1993 it was decreed that all cars in use in the city centre must be fitted with catalytic converters; a regulation had just then been introduced, substantially reducing import taxes on cars with catalytic converters, the only condition being that the buyer of such a ‘clean’ car offered for destruction a car at least 15 years old. Which one of the following options, if true, would best support the claim that the measures adopted to date have not succeeded? 1. 2. 3. 4. In the 1980s, many families purchased second cars with the requisite odd or even number plate. In the mid-1990s, many families found it feasible to become first-time car owners by buying a car more than 15 years old and turning it in for a new car with catalytic converters. Post-1993, many families seized the opportunity to sell their more than 15 year-old cars and buy ‘clean’ cars from the open market, even if it meant forgoing the import tax subsidy. All of the above. [Evaluate Inferences] 14. About 96% of Scandinavian moths have ears tuned to the ultrasonic pulses that bats, their predators, emit. But the remaining 4% do not have ears and are deaf. However, they have a larger wingspan than the hearing moths, and also have higher wingloadings—the ratio between a wing’s area and its weight—meaning higher manoeuvrability. Which one of the following can be best inferred from the above passage? 1. 2. 3. 4. A higher proportion of deaf moths than hearing moths fall prey to bats. Deaf moths may try to avoid bats by frequent changes in their flight direction. Deaf moths are faster than hearing moths, and so are less prone to becoming a bat’s dinner than hearing moths. The large wingspan enables deaf moths to better receive and sense the pulses of their bat predators.
15. The Kolahal party had to fight the Golmal party bitterly to win the mayoral elections. One of the main features of its campaign was that it would make public all the papers related to a scandal during the regime of the Golmal party. After the victory, however, the new mayor got busy introducing many schemes, both liked and not liked by the public. The Golmal party made only mild protests but refrained from tabling a serious no-confidence motion in the council which it could have won by obtaining the support of the independent members.
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Which of the following statements, if true, implies that the Kolahal party is blackmailing the Golmal party? 1. The papers mentioned in the election campaign are prepared and ready. 2. Some members of the public disliked the reforms made by the new mayor. 3. People complained about collusion between the two parties. 4. Independent members were not keen on supporting the Golmal party. 16. Cellular phone services are being provided by two companies in each telecom circle. These companies were awarded the contracts based on the licence fees they agreed to pay the government and were selected on a competitive basis. Cellular phone service providers have found that their profits are much less than they expected—in fact in most cases they are losing money. Which of the following can be inferred from the above passage? 1. All the cellular phone service providers have been operating inefficiently. 2. 3. 4. The government was wrong in allowing private provision of cellular services. Cellular service providers have been unable to match performance to plan. Paging services have eaten into the revenue of the cellular services.
17. Organisations are often defined as groups of people who come together to pursue a common goal. But more often than not, goals diverge as much as they converge, making the rationality of the overall organisation no more than an elusive ideal. Beneath the collective irrationality, however, organisations are often operating in a way that is eminently rational from the standpoint of the individuals, groups and coalitions directly involved. Which of the following can be inferred from the above passage? 1. If all employees of an organisation pursue their individual goals, one can never have an organisation that behaves rationally. 2. Although conceptually an organisation may appear to be irrational—behaviours of individuals, groups and coalitions in the organisation may be rational. 3. As individuals, groups or coalitions in an organisation pursue their own interests, the conceptual issues of rational behaviour get blurred. 4. Since people are essentially irrational, the ideal of building a rational organisation is elusive. 18. BSE officials point out that ever since on-line trading took off, surveillance isn’t difficult any more. Sophisticated software has been installed for continuous monitoring of stock prices. If that is so, how could the unnatural spurt in prices of operatordriven stock go unnoticed? There does not seem to be regular checks or supervision. Which of the following can be inferred from the above passage? 1. The software used at BSE is not as sophisticated as it is claimed to be. 2. The operators can drive stock prices crazy irrespective of the kind of software installed. 3. Nobody can ever predict how stock prices move in the market. 4. Having the infrastructure in place is one thing, but proper utilisation is another. 19. At a movie theatre in Bangalore, last year, the proprietor decided to sell about one-third of his total balcony capacity on the internet. The response was tremendous. On every new release, the entire on-line capacity was sold out. Today, there are at least 2 million educated and well-heeled consumers in India who are ordering everything from cinema tickets to paan and tennis racquets to shirts from the comfort of their offices or homes. Which of the following can be inferred from the above passage? 1. There is a growing breed of computer-savvy consumers in Bangalore.
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2. It is more comfortable to purchase movie tickets through the internet. 3. A retailing revolution is underway in India with the advent of the internet. 4. The proprietor of the theatre can profitably, decide to sell all the balcony tickets through the internet. 20. According to McNeill, a Brahmin priest was expected to be able to recite at least one of the Vedas. The practice was essential for several centuries when the Vedas had not yet been written down. It must have had a selective effect, since priests would have been recruited from those able or willing to memorize long passages. It must have helped in the dissemination of the work, since a memorized passage can be duplicated many times. Which of the following can be inferred from the above passage? 1. Reciting the Vedas was a Brahmin’s obligation. 2. The Vedic priest was like a recorded audio cassette. 3. McNeill studied the behaviour of Brahmin priests. 4. Vedic hymns had not been scripted. 21. Animals in general are shrewd in proportion as they cultivate society. Elephants and beavers show the greatest signs of this sagacity when they are together in large numbers, but when man invades their communities they lose all their spirit of industry. Among insects, the labours of the bee and the ant have attracted the attention and admiration of naturalists, but all their sagacity seems to be lost upon separation, and a single bee or ant seems destitute of every degree of industry. It becomes the most stupid insect imaginable, and it languishes and soon dies. Which of the following can be inferred from the above passage? 1. Humankind is responsible for the destruction of the natural habitat of animals and insects. 2. Animals, in general, are unable to function effectively outside their normal social environment. 3. Naturalists have great admiration for bees and ants, despite their lack of industry upon separation. 4. Elephants and beavers are smarter than bees and ants in the presence of human beings. [Summary of a Passage] 22. The Shveta-chattra or the “White Umbrella” was a symbol of sovereign political authority placed over the monarch’s head at the time of coronation. The ruler so inaugurated was regarded not as a temporal autocrat but as the instrument of protective and sheltering firmament of supreme law. The white umbrella symbol is of great antiquity and its varied use illustrates the ultimate common basis of non-theocratic nature of states in the Indian tradition. As such, the umbrella is found, although not necessarily a white one, over the head of Lord Ram, the Mohammedan sultans and Chatrapati Shivaji. Which one of the following best summarises the above passage? 1. The placing of an umbrella over the ruler’s head was a common practice in the Indian subcontinent. 2. The white umbrella represented the instrument of firmament of the supreme law and the non-theocratic nature of Indian states. 3. The umbrella, not necessarily a white one, was a symbol of sovereign political authority. 4. The varied use of the umbrella symbolised the common basis of the non-theocratic nature of states in the Indian tradition.
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[Application-based Questions] 23. The theory of games is suggested to some extent by parlour games such as chess and bridge. Friedman illustrates two distinct features of these games. First, in a parlour game played for money, if one wins the other (others) loses (lose). Second, these games are games involving a strategy. In a game of chess, while choosing what action is to be taken, a player tries to guess how his/her opponent will react to the various actions he or she might take. In contrast, the card-pastime, ‘patience’ or ‘solitaire’ is played only against chance. Which one of the following can best be described as a “game?” 1. 2. 3. 4. The team of Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary climbing Mt. Everest for the first time in human history. A national level essay writing competition. A decisive war between the armed forces of India and Pakistan over Kashmir. Oil Exporters’ Union deciding on world oil prices, completely disregarding the countries which have at most minimal oil production.
DIRECTIONS for Questions 24 and 25: For each of the two questions, indicate which of the statements given with that particular question is consistent with the description of the unseasonable man in the passage below. Unseasonableness is a tendency to do socially permissible things at the wrong time. The unseasonable man is the sort of person who comes to confide in you when you are busy. He serenades his beloved when she is ill. He asks a man who has just lost money by paying a bill for a friend to pay a bill for him. He invites a friend to go for a ride just after the friend has finished a long car trip. He is eager to offer services which are not wanted but which cannot be politely refused. If he is present at an arbitration, he stirs up dissension between the two parties, who were really anxious to agree. Such is the unseasonable man. 24. He tends to 1. entertain women. 2. be a successful arbitrator when dissenting parties are anxious to agree. 3. be helpful when solicited. 4. tell a long story to people who have heard it many times before. 25. The unseasonable man tends to 1. bring a higher bidder to a salesman who has just closed a deal. 2. disclose confidential information to others. 3. sing the praises of the bride when he goes to a wedding. 4. sleep late and rise early.
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ANSWER KEY TYPE 1: Logical Completion of a Paragraph 1. 6. (3) (1) 2. 7. (1) (2) 3. 8. (2) (3) 4. 9. (1) (4) 5. (5)
TYPE 2: Summary of a Passage 1. 6. (2) (1) 2. 7. (1) (4) 3. 8. (2) (2) 4. 9. (4) (2) 5. (3)
TYPE 3: Critical Reasoning (Miscellaneous) 1. 6. 11. 16. 21. (3) (3) (1) (3) (2) 2. 7. 12. 17. 22. (2) (3) (1) (2) (4) 3. 8. 13. 18. 23. (4) (4) (4) (4) (3) 4. 9. 14. 19. 24. (3) (2) (2) (3) (4) 5. 10. 15. 20. 25. (2) (3) (1) (2) (1)
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