DIRECTIONS for questions 1 to 5 : Read the given passage and answer the questions.
Economics, ethicists and business sages persuade us that honesty is the best policy, but their evidence is weak. We hoped to find data that would support their theories and thus, perhaps encourage higher standards of business behaviour. To our surprise, our pet theories failed to stand up. Treachery, we found, can pay. There is no compelling economic reason to tell the truth or keep one's word, punishment for the treacherous in the real world is neither swift nor sure.
Honesty is, in fact primarily a moral choice. Business people do tell themselves that, in the long run, they will do well by doing good, but there is little factual or logical basis for this conviction. Without values, without a basic preference for right over wrong, trust based on such self-delusion would crumble in the face of temptation. Most of us choose virtue because we want to believe in ourselves and-have others' respect and belief in us.
And for this, we should be happy. We can be proud of a system in which people are honest because they want to be, not because they have to be. Materially, too, trust based on morality provides great advantages. It allows us to join in great and exciting enterprises that we could never undertake if we relied on economic incentives alone.
Economists tell us that trust is enforced in the market place through retaliation of reputation. If you violate a trust your victim is apt to seek revenge and others are likely to stop doing business with you, atleast under favourable terms. A man or woman with a reputation for fair dealing will prosper. Therefore, profit maximizers are honest. This sounds plausible enough until you look tor concrete examples. Cases that apparently demonstrate the awful consequence of trust turn out to be few and weak, while evidence that treachery can pay seems compelling.
Which of the following is the same in meaning as 'persuade' as used in the passage?
Try to convince
Cheat
Motivate
Give assurance
Answer: Option A.
Refer line 1 of para 1, “economics…. Weak”.
What did the author find out about the theory that honesty is the best policy?
eIt is a useless theory.
It is correct on many occasions.
It is incorrect on many occasions.
It is correct only occasionally
Answer: Option B.
Refer line 4 of para 4. “Therefore, profit maximizers are honest.” Which means that most of the businessmen who make the most profit build relations on trust, and in order to do that they have to be honest, hence answer is option B.
What is the material advantage, which the author sees in being honest? It permits one to
Undertake activities which may not be economically attractive.
Be honest for the sake of honesty alone.
Make a lot of profit in various areas.
None of these.
Answer: Option A.
Refer last line of the 3rd para. "it allows... incentives alone."
Which of the following is false according to the passage?
People are generally honest because it pays in the long run.
Virtuous behavior earns the self respect of others.
Economists believe that all businessmen are dishonest.
Generally people are honest to earn self-respect.
Answer: Option C.
Refer line 1 of para 1, “economics…. Weak”. So if the economists want us to believe that honesty is the best policy, hence option C is false.
Which of the following best describes what the author is trying to point out through the last sentence of the passage 'Cases that ………. compelling'?
Economist predict correctly
The consequences of dishonesty
The contradictions in the real world
Theories do not seem to be true
Answer: Option C.
Refer to the last para of the passage. In this the author is trying to say that most people who make the most profit are honest however in the real this statement has faced many contradictions, as many times we find that treachery pays better. Hence the answer is option C.
DIRECTIONS for questions 6 to 7 : Part or all of each sentence is colored. Following the sentence four version of the colored portion are presented. Choice (1) repeats the original; the other choices are different. If you think a better sentence can be found in choices (2), (3) or (4) then choose one of them. If the sentence is correct as stated your answer will be choice (1).
His morning routine included eating an English muffin with grape jelly, then to drink coffee from a Styrofoam cup, and sitting down to draw his daily comic strip. he is bound to react
then to drink coffee from a Styrofoam cup.
drinking coffee from a Styrofoam cup.
then drink coffee from a Styrofoam cup
from a Styrofoam cup, he would drink coffee.
Answer: Option B.
Error of parallelism, since the word mentioned is eating hence the next word will be drinking.
Pretending to have hurt his knee. Manoj’s attempt to convince his coach to let him out of practice was a failure.
Manoj’s attempt to convince his coach to let him out of practice was a failure.
Manoj’s attempt to convince his coach failed to let him out of practice.
Manoj’s attempted to convince his coach to let him out of practice but it was a failure.
Manoj’s attempted to convince his coach to let him out of practice but he failed.
Answer: Option C.
Error of missing pronoun, which makes the underlined part confusing hence option C is the correct choice.
DIRECTIONS for question 8: Choose the word/group of words which is most similar in the meaning to the word/group of words printed in red.
Minuscule
diminutive
enormous
obvious
unavoidable
mammoth
Answer: Option A.
extremely small; tiny, hence the answer is option A.
DIRECTIONS for questions 9 to 10: Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate word or word pair.
The latest review for the restaurant was ___________ suggesting that the __________ cuisine came close to compensating for the insipid decor.
glowing.. indefatigable
banal.. mediocre
ambivalent.. sublime
severe .. piquant
Answer: Option C.
The key words here are 'insipid' and 'Compensating'. Ambivalent means 'being in two minds' and that the review was not all good, although they praised the cooking as sublime, they have criticized the insipid decor.
As unexpected as the results of the experiment were. Dr. Sharma refused to characterize them as _____________.
meticulous
belligerent
anomalous
convergent
Answer: Option C.
The key word here is unexpected and hence option C fits as per the context.
