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Previous Year Questions
The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question.
The Chinese have two different concepts of a copy. Fangzhipin . . . are imitations where the difference from the original is obvious. These are small models or copies that can be purchased in a museum shop, for example. The second concept for a copy is fuzhipin . . . They are exact reproductions of the original, which, for the Chinese, are of equal value to the original. It has absolutely no negative connotations. The discrepancy with regard to the understanding of what a copy is has often led to misunderstandings and arguments between China and Western museums. The Chinese often send copies abroad instead of originals, in the firm belief that they are not essentially different from the originals. The rejection that then comes from the Western museums is perceived by the Chinese as an insult. . . .
The Far Eastern notion of identity is also very confusing to the Western observer. The Ise Grand Shrine [in Japan] is 1,300 years old for the millions of Japanese people who go there on pilgrimage every year. But in reality this temple complex is completely rebuilt from scratch every 20 years. . . .
The cathedral of Freiburg Minster in southwest Germany is covered in scaffolding almost all year round. The sandstone from which it is built is a very soft, porous material that does not withstand natural erosion by rain and wind. After a while, it crumbles. As a result, the cathedral is continually being examined for damage, and eroded stones are replaced. And in the cathedral's dedicated workshop, copies of the damaged sandstone figures are constantly being produced. Of course, attempts are made to preserve the stones from the Middle Ages for as long as possible. But at some point they, too, are removed and replaced with new stones.
Fundamentally, this is the same operation as with the Japanese shrine, except in this case the production of a replica takes place very slowly and over long periods of time. . . . In the field of art as well, the idea of an unassailable original developed historically in the Western world. Back in the 17th century [in the West], excavated artworks from antiquity were treated quite differently from today. They were not restored in a way that was faithful to the original. Instead, there was massive intervention in these works, changing their appearance. . . .
It is probably this intellectual position that explains why Asians have far fewer scruples about cloning than Europeans. The South Korean cloning researcher Hwang Woo-suk, who attracted worldwide attention with his cloning experiments in 2004, is a Buddhist. He found a great deal of support and followers among Buddhists, while Christians called for a ban on human cloning. . . . Hwang legitimised his cloning experiments with his religious affiliation: 'I am Buddhist, and I have no philosophical problem with cloning. And as you know, the basis of Buddhism is that life is recycled through reincarnation. In some ways, I think, therapeutic cloning restarts the circle of life.'
Based on the passage, which one of the following copies would a Chinese museum be unlikely to consider as having less value than the original?
Video Explanation
Which one of the following statements does not correctly express the similarity between the Ise Grand Shrine and the cathedral of Freiburg Minster?
Video Explanation
Which one of the following scenarios is unlikely to follow from the arguments in the passage?
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The value that the modern West assigns to "an unassailable original" has resulted in all of the following EXCEPT:
Video Explanation
The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question.
Stoicism was founded in 300 BC by the Greek philosopher Zeno and survived into the Roman era until about AD 300. According to the Stoics, emotions consist of two movements. The first movement is the immediate feeling and other reactions (e.g., physiological response) that occur when a stimulus or event occurs. For instance, consider what could have happened if an army general accused Marcus Aurelius of treason in front of other officers. The first movement for Marcus may have been (internal) surprise and anger in response to this insult, accompanied perhaps by some involuntary physiological and expressive responses such as face flushing and a movement of the eyebrows. The second movement is what one does next about the emotion. Second movement behaviors occur after thinking and are under one's control. Examples of second movements for Marcus might have included a plot to seek revenge, actions signifying deference and appeasement, or perhaps proceeding as he would have proceeded whether or not this event occurred: continuing to lead the Romans in a way that Marcus Aurelius believed best benefited them. In the Stoic view, choosing a reasoned, unemotional response as the second movement is the only appropriate response.
The Stoics believed that to live the good life and be a good person, we need to free ourselves of nearly all desires such as too much desire for money, power, or sexual gratification. Prior to second movements, we can consider what is important in life. Money, power, and excessive sexual gratification are not important. Character, rationality, and kindness are important. The Epicureans, first associated with the Greek philosopher Epicurus . . . held a similar view, believing that people should enjoy simple pleasures, such as good conversation, friendship, food, and wine, but not be indulgent in these pursuits and not follow passion for those things that hold no real value like power and money. As Oatley (2004) states, "the Epicureans articulated a view—enjoyment of relationship with friends, of things that are real rather than illusory, simple rather than artificially inflated, possible rather than vanishingly unlikely—that is certainly relevant today" . . . In sum, these ancient Greek and Roman philosophers saw emotions, especially strong ones, as potentially dangerous. They viewed emotions as experiences that needed to be [reined] in and controlled.
As Oatley (2004) points out, the Stoic idea bears some similarity to Buddhism. Buddha, living in India in the 6th century BC, argued for cultivating a certain attitude that decreases the probability of (in Stoic terms) destructive second movements. Through meditation and the right attitude, one allows emotions to happen to oneself (it is impossible to prevent this), but one is advised to observe the emotions without necessarily acting on them; one achieves some distance and decides what has value and what does not have value. Additionally, the Stoic idea of developing virtue in oneself, of becoming a good person, which the Stoics believed we could do because we have a touch of the divine, laid the foundation for the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam . . . As with Stoicism, tenets of these religions include controlling our emotions lest we engage in sinful behavior.
On the basis of the passage, which one of the following statements can be regarded as true?
Video Explanation
Which one of the following statements, if false, could be seen as contradicting the facts/arguments in the passage?
Video Explanation
"Through meditation and the right attitude, one allows emotions to happen to oneself (it is impossible to prevent this), but one is advised to observe the emotions without necessarily acting on them; one achieves some distance and decides what has value and what does not have value." In the context of the passage, which one of the following is not a possible implication of the quoted statement?
Video Explanation
Which one of the following statements would be an accurate inference from the example of Marcus Aurelius?
Video Explanation
The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question.
Critical theory of technology is a political theory of modernity with a normative dimension. It belongs to a tradition extending from Marx to Foucault and Habermas according to which advances in the formal claims of human rights take center stage while in the background centralization of ever more powerful public institutions and private organizations imposes an authoritarian social order.
Marx attributed this trajectory to the capitalist rationalization of production. Today it marks many institutions besides the factory and every modern political system, including so-called socialist systems. This trajectory arose from the problems of command over a disempowered and deskilled labor force; but everywhere [that] masses are organized – whether it be Foucault's prisons or Habermas's public sphere – the same pattern prevails. Technological design and development is shaped by this pattern as the material base of a distinctive social order. Marcuse would later point to a "project" as the basis of what he called rather confusingly "technological rationality." Releasing technology from this project is a democratic political task.
In accordance with this general line of thought, critical theory of technology regards technologies as an environment rather than as a collection of tools. We live today with and even within technologies that determine our way of life. Along with the constant pressures to build centers of power, many other social values and meanings are inscribed in technological design. A hermeneutics of technology must make explicit the meanings implicit in the devices we use and the rituals they script. Social histories of technologies such as the bicycle, artificial lighting or firearms have made important contributions to this type of analysis. Critical theory of technology attempts to build a methodological approach on the lessons of these histories.
As an environment, technologies shape their inhabitants. In this respect, they are comparable to laws and customs. Each of these institutions can be said to represent those who live under their sway through privileging certain dimensions of their human nature. Laws of property represent the interest in ownership and control. Customs such as parental authority represent the interest of childhood in safety and growth. Similarly, the automobile represents its users in so far as they are interested in mobility. Interests such as these constitute the version of human nature sanctioned by society.
This notion of representation does not imply an eternal human nature. The concept of nature as non-identity in the Frankfurt School suggests an alternative. On these terms, nature is what lies at the limit of history, at the point at which society loses the capacity to imprint its meanings on things and control them effectively. The reference here is, of course, not to the nature of natural science, but to the lived nature in which we find ourselves and which we are. This nature reveals itself as that which cannot be totally encompassed by the machinery of society. For the Frankfurt School, human nature, in all its transcending force, emerges out of a historical context as that context is [depicted] in illicit joys, struggles and pathologies. We can perhaps admit a less romantic . . . conception in which those dimensions of human nature recognized by society are also granted theoretical legitimacy.
All of the following claims can be inferred from the passage, EXCEPT:
Video Explanation
Which one of the following statements best reflects the main argument of the fourth paragraph of the passage?
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Which one of the following statements contradicts the arguments of the passage?
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Which one of the following statements could be inferred as supporting the arguments of the passage?
Video Explanation
The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question.
Stories concerning the Undead have always been with us. From out of the primal darkness of Mankind's earliest years, come whispers of eerie creatures, not quite alive (or alive in a way which we can understand), yet not quite dead either. These may have been ancient and primitive deities who dwelt deep in the surrounding forests and in remote places, or simply those deceased who refused to remain in their tombs and who wandered about the countryside, physically tormenting and frightening those who were still alive. Mostly they were ill-defined—strange sounds in the night beyond the comforting glow of the fire, or a shape, half-glimpsed in the twilight along the edge of an encampment. They were vague and indistinct, but they were always there with the power to terrify and disturb. They had the power to touch the minds of our early ancestors and to fill them with dread. Such fear formed the basis of the earliest tales although the source and exact nature of such terrors still remained very vague.
And as Mankind became more sophisticated, leaving the gloom of their caves and forming themselves into recognizable communities—towns, cities, whole cultures—so the Undead travelled with them, inhabiting their folklore just as they had in former times. Now they began to take on more definite shapes. They became walking cadavers; the physical embodiment of former deities and things which had existed alongside Man since the Creation. Some still remained vague and ill-defined but, as Mankind strove to explain the horror which it felt towards them, such creatures emerged more readily into the light.
In order to confirm their abnormal status, many of the Undead were often accorded attributes, which defied the natural order of things—the power to transform themselves into other shapes, the ability to sustain themselves by drinking human blood, and the ability to influence human minds across a distance. Such powers—described as supernatural—only [lent] an added dimension to the terror that humans felt regarding them.
And it was only natural, too, that the Undead should become connected with the practice of magic. From very early times, Shamans and witchdoctors had claimed at least some power and control over the spirits of departed ancestors, and this has continued down into more "civilized" times. Formerly, the invisible spirits and forces that thronged around men's earliest encampments, had spoken "through" the tribal Shamans but now, as entities in their own right, they were subject to magical control and could be physically summoned by a competent sorcerer. However, the relationship between the magician and an Undead creature was often a very tenuous and uncertain one. Some sorcerers might have even become Undead entities once they died, but they might also have been susceptible to the powers of other magicians when they did.
From the Middle Ages and into the Age of Enlightenment, theories of the Undead continued to grow and develop. Their names became more familiar—werewolf, vampire, ghoul—each one certain to strike fear into the hearts of ordinary humans.
Which one of the following statements best describes what the passage is about?
Video Explanation
All of the following statements, if false, could be seen as being in accordance with the passage, EXCEPT:
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Which one of the following observations is a valid conclusion to draw from the statement, "From out of the primal darkness of Mankind's earliest years, come whispers of eerie creatures, not quite alive (or alive in a way which we can understand), yet not quite dead either."?
Video Explanation
Let ABCD be a parallelogram such that the coordinates of its three vertices A, B, C are (1, 1), (3, 4) and (−2, 8), respectively. Then, the coordinates of the vertex D are
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Trains A and B start traveling at the same time towards each other with constant speeds from stations X and Y, respectively. Train A reaches station Y in 10 minutes while train B takes 9 minutes to reach station X after meeting train A. Then the total time taken, in minutes, by train B to travel from station Y to station X is
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The average of three integers is 13 . When a natural number n is included, the average of these four integers remains an odd integer. The minimum possible value of n is
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The largest real value of a for which the equation |x+a|+|x−1|=2 has an infinite number of solutions for x is
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Alex invested his savings in two parts. The simple interest earned on the first part at 15% per annum for 4 years is the same as the simple interest earned on the second part at 12% per annum for 3 years. Then, the percentage of his savings invested in the first part is
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In a class of 100 students, 73 like coffee, 80 like tea and 52 like lemonade. It may be possible that some students do not like any of these three drinks. Then the difference between the maximum and minimum possible number of students who like all the three drinks is
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All the vertices of a rectangle lie on a circle of radius R. If the perimeter of the rectangle is P, then the area of the rectangle is
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The average weight of students in a class increases by 600 gm when some new students join the class. If the average weight of the new students is 3 kg more than the average weight of the original students, then the ratio of the number of original students to the number of new students is
Video Explanation
There are 15 girls and some boys among the graduating students in a class. They are planning a get-together, which can be either a 1-day event, or a 2-day event, or a 3-day event. There are 6 singers in the class, 4 of them are boys. There are 10 dancers in the class, 4 of them are girls. No dancer in the class is a singer.
Some students are not interested in attending the get-together. Those students who are interested in attending a 3-day event are also interested in attending a 2-day event; those who are interested in attending a 2-day event are also interested in attending a 1-day event.
The following facts are also known:
1. All the girls and 80% of the boys are interested in attending a 1-day event. 60% of the boys are interested in attending a 2-day event.
2. Some of the girls are interested in attending a 1-day event, but not a 2-day event; some of the other girls are interested in attending both.
3. 70% of the boys who are interested in attending a 2-day event are neither singers nor dancers. 60% of the girls who are interested in attending a 2-day event are neither singers nor dancers.
4. No girl is interested in attending a 3-day event. All male singers and 2 of the dancers are interested in attending a 3-day event.
5. The number of singers interested in attending a 2-day event is one more than the number of dancers interested in attending a 2-day event.
How many boys are there in the class?
Video Explanation
Which of the following can be determined from the given information?
I. The number of boys who are interested in attending a 1-day event and are neither dancers nor singers.
II.The number of female dancers who are interested in attending a 1-day event
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What fraction of the class are interested in attending a 2-day event?
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What BEST can be concluded about the number of male dancers who are interested in attending a 1-day event?
Video Explanation
How many female dancers are interested in attending a 2-day event?
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The management of a university hockey team was evaluating performance of four women players - Amla, Bimla, Harita and Sarita for their possible selection in the university team for next year. For this purpose, the management was looking at the number of goals scored by them in the past 8 matches, numbered 1 through 8. The four players together had scored a total of 12 goals in these matches. In the 8 matches, each of them had scored at least one goal. No two players had scored the same total number of goals.
The following facts are known about the goals scored by these four players only. All the questions refer only to the goals scored by these four players.
1. Only one goal was scored in every even numbered match.
2. Harita scored more goals than Bimla.
3. The highest goal scorer scored goals in exactly 3 matches including Match 4 and Match 8.
4. Bimla scored a goal in Match 1 and one each in three other consecutive matches.
5. An equal number of goals were scored in Match 3 and Match 7, which was different from the number of goals scored in either Match 1 or Match 5.
6. The match in which the highest number of goals was scored was unique and it was not Match 5.
Which of the following is the correct sequence of goals scored in matches 1, 3, 5 and 7?
Video Explanation
Which of the following statement(s) is/are true?
Statement-1: Amla and Sarita never scored goals in the same match.
Statement-2: Harita and Sarita never scored goals in the same match.
Video Explanation
Which of the following statement(s) is/are false?
Statement-1: In every match at least one player scored a goal.
Statement-2: No two players scored goals in the same number of matches.
Video Explanation
Adhara, Bithi, Chhaya, Dhanavi, Esther, and Fathima are the interviewers in a process that awards funding for new initiatives. Every interviewer individually interviews each of the candidates individually and awards a token only if she recommends funding. A token has a face value of 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, or 13. Each interviewer awards tokens of a single face value only. Once all six interviews are over for a candidate, the candidate receives a funding that is Rs.1000 times the product of the face values of all the tokens. For example, if a candidate has tokens with face values 2, 5, and 7, then they get a funding of Rs.1000 × (2 × 5 × 7) = Rs.70,000.
Pragnyaa, Qahira, Rasheeda, Smera, and Tantra were five candidates who received funding. The funds they received, in descending order, were Rs.390,000, Rs.210,000, Rs.165,000, Rs.77,000, and Rs.66,000.
The following additional facts are known:
1. Fathima awarded tokens to everyone except Qahira, while Adhara awarded tokens to no one except Pragnyaa.
2. Rashida received the highest number of tokens that anyone received, but she did not receive one from Esther.
3. Bithi awarded a token to Smera but not to Qahira, while Dhanavi awarded a token to Qahira but not to Smera.
How many tokens did Qahira receive?
Video Explanation
Who among the following definitely received a token from Bithi but not from Dhanavi?
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How many tokens did Chhaya award?
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How many tokens did Smera receive?
Video Explanation
Which of the following could be the amount of funding that Tantra received?
(a) Rs. 66,000
(b) Rs. 165,000
Video Explanation
Given above is the schematic map of the metro lines in a city with rectangles denoting terminal stations (e.g. A), diamonds denoting junction stations (e.g. R) and small filled-up circles denoting other stations. Each train runs either in east-west or north-south direction, but not both. All trains stop for 2 minutes at each of the junction stations on the way and for 1 minute at each of the other stations. It takes 2 minutes to reach the next station for trains going in east-west direction and 3 minutes to reach the next station for trains going in north-south direction. From each terminal station, the first train starts at 6 am; the last trains leave the terminal stations at midnight. Otherwise, during the service hours, there are metro service every 15 minutes in the north-south lines and every 10 minutes in the east-west lines. A train must rest for at least 15 minutes after completing a trip at the terminal station, before it can undertake the next trip in the reverse direction. (All questions are related to this metro service only. Assume that if someone reaches a station exactly at the time a train is supposed to leave, (s)he can catch that train.)
If Hari is ready to board a train at 8:05 am from station M, then when is the earliest that he can reach station N?
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If Priya is ready to board a train at 10:25 am from station T, then when is the earliest that she can reach station S?
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Haripriya is expected to reach station S late. What is the latest time by which she must be ready to board at station S if she must reach station B before 1 am via station R?
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What is the minimum number of trains that are required to provide the service on the AB line (considering both north and south directions)?
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What is the minimum number of trains that are required to provide the service in this city?
Video Explanation