DIRECTIONS for the questions 1-2 choose the word which is most nearly the OPPOSITE in meaning to the word given below
Obsequious
Brusque
Quick-witted
Sharp-tongued
Luxurious
Answer: Option C.
Obsequious' is an adjective meaning 'servile' or 'given to flattery'. The answer would be sharp-tongued.
Obstreperous
Critical
Unruly.
Unpleasing
Calm
Answer: Option D.
'Obstreperous' means 'unruly, difficult to control/ discipline'. The word which is most nearly the opposite is ' calm'.
DIRECTIONS for the questions 3-6 : Each of these questions is followed by two arguments numbered I and II.
Decide which of the arguments is a ‘strong’ argument and which is a 'weak' argument. Mark answer as if only Argument II is strong.
if only Argument II is strong.
if only Argument I is strong.
if either Argument I or II is strong.
4. if neither Argument I nor II is strong.
Should there be only one rate of interest for term deposits of varying durations in banks? Arguments: I . No, people will refrain from keeping money for longer durations resulting into reduction of liquidity level of banks.
II. Yes, this will be much simpler for the common people and they may be encouraged to keep more money in banks.
1
2
3
4
Answer: Option A.
Clearly, the proposed scheme would discourage people from keeping deposits for longer durations (the rate of interest being the same for short durations) and not draw in more funds. So, only argument I holds.
Should all those who have come in contact with the patients' infectious respiratory disease be quarantined in their houses?
Arguments:
I . No, nobody should be quarantined unless they are tested and found to be infected by the virus causing the disease.
II. Yes, this is the only way to control the spread of the dreaded disease.
1
2
3
4
Answer: Option A.
There is no point in quarantining a person if she is not infected. In order to find that out you will need to test her – hence argument I is strong. Given the fact related to argument I, II is a generic statement, which has lesser validity if we can do what argument I states.
Should mutual funds be brought under strict Govt. control?
Arguments:
I . Yes, that is one of the ways to protect the interest of the investors.
II. No, strict Govt. controls are likely to be counterproductive.
1
2
3
4
Answer: Option A.
If Mutual funds are made to follow a set of government controls, then the risks to investors stand reduced. Hence argument 1 can be justified.
When Mutual funds make less risky investments, returns are going to be limited. Investors do not come with uniform risk profiles – some of them are ready to take higher risks attracted by higher returns. So there is a case to be made against government controls also.
Obviously both cannot be simultaneously implemented
Answer: Option D.
‘Endemic’ means affecting a few so its opposite will be ‘universal’
DIRECTIONS for the questions 7 to 10: Read the passage and answer the question based on it.
The work which Gandhiji had taken up was not only the achievement of political freedom but also the establishment of a social order based on truth and non-violence, unity and peace, equality and universal brotherhood and maximum freedom for all. This unfinished part of his experiment was perhaps even more difficult to achieve than the achievement of political freedom. In the political struggle, the fight was against a foreign power and all one could do, was either join it or wish it success and give it their moral support. In establishing the social order of his pattern, there was a lively possibility of a conflict arising between groups and classes of our own people. Experience shows that man values his possessions even more than his life because in the former, he sees the means for perpetuation and survival of his descendants even after his body is reduced to ashes. A new order cannot be established without radically changing the mind and attitude of men towards property and, at some stage or the other, the ‘haves’ have to yield place to the ‘have-nots’. We have seen, in our time, attempts to achieve a kind of egalitarian society and the picture of it after it was achieved. But this was done, by and large, through the use of physical force. In the ultimate analysis it is difficult, if not impossible, to say that the instinct to possess has been rooted out or that, it will not reappear in an even worse form under a different guise. It may even be that, like a gas kept confined within containers under great pressure, or water held by a big dam, once a barrier breaks, the reaction will one day sweep back with a violence equal in extent and intensity to what was used to establish and maintain the outward egalitarian form. This enforced egalitarianism contains, in its bosom, the seed of its own destruction. The root cause of class conflict is possessiveness or the acquisitive instinct. So long as the ideal that is to be achieved is one of securing the maximum material satisfaction, possessiveness is neither suppressed nor eliminated but grows on what it feeds. Nor does it cease to be such – it is possessiveness, still, whether it is confined to only a few or is shared by many. If egalitarianism is to endure, it has to be based not on the possession of the maximum material goods by few or by all but on voluntary, enlightened renunciation of those goods which cannot be shared by others or can be enjoyed only at the expense of others. This calls for substitution of spiritual values for purely material ones. The paradise of material satisfaction that is sometimes equated with progress these days neither spells peace nor progress. Mahatma Gandhi has shown us how the acquisitive instinct inherent in man could be transmuted by the adoption of the ideal of trusteeship by those who ‘have not’ so that, instead of leading to exploitation and conflict, it would become a means and incentive for the amelioration and progress of society respectively.
According to the passage, egalitarianism can survive only if
It is based on voluntary renunciation
It is achieved by resorting to physical force
Underprivileged people are not involved in its establishment
People’s outlook towards it is not radically changed
Answer: Option A.
Option A is correct. Refer to the last paragraph, 2nd line…..but on voluntary…
According to the passage, why does man value his possessions more than his life?
He has inherent desire to share his possession with others
He is endowed with the possessive instinct
Only his possessions help him earn love and respect from his descendants
Through his possessions he can ensure happiness of his descendants after his life
Answer: Option D
Option D is correct …given in the first para….
According to the passage, which was the unfinished part of Gandhi’s experiment?
Educating people to avoid class conflict
Achieving total political freedom for the country
Establishment of an egalitarian society
Radically changing the mind attitude of men towards truth and non-violence
Answer: Option C.
Option C. The passage states that establishment of a social order based on truth and non-violence, unity and peace, equality and universal brotherhood and maximum freedom for all was what Gandhiji wanted and which was unfinished. Hence the only part that was left unfinished after Gandhi was Egalitarian society
Which of the following statements is ‘not true’ in the context of the passage?
True egalitarianism can be achieved by giving up one’s possessions
Man values his life more than his possessions
Possessive instinct is a natural part of human being
In the political struggle, the fight was against the alien rule
Answer: Option B.
Option B. It is incorrect as it is clearly given in the line “ Experience shows that man values his possessions even more than his life.....is reduced to ashes.”.
