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CAT 2025 Slot 3 — VARC questions with answers

All 24 questions of the Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension section (20 MCQs, 4 TITA, 6 passages). Try each one, then open its answer and solution.

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Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension

CAT 2025 Slot 3 · 40 minutes · +3 for a right answer, −1 for a wrong MCQ, 0 for a wrong TITA

Reading passage

Passage for questions 1

In investigating memory-beliefs, there are certain points which must be borne in mind. In the first place, everything constituting a memory-belief is happening now, not in that past time to which the belief is said to refer. It is not logically necessary to the existence of a memory-belief that the event remembered should have occurred, or even that the past should have existed at all. There is no logical impossibility in the hypothesis that the world sprang into being five minutes ago, exactly as it then was, with a population that "remembered" a wholly unreal past. There is no logically necessary connection between events at different times; therefore nothing that is happening now or will happen in the future can disprove the hypothesis that the world began five minutes ago. Hence the occurrences which are CALLED knowledge of the past are logically independent of the past; they are wholly analysable into present contents, which might, theoretically, be just what they are even if no past had existed.

Q1MCQPara Summary

Choose the option that best summarises the passage.
  1. That which we call 'knowledge of the past' is logically independent of the past, since the act of remembering which forms memory-beliefs happens in the present, and does not need to be based in real past occurrences, or even need a past at all.
  2. When we discuss the concept of memory-beliefs, we must understand that it is not logically impossible for the event remembered to have never happened at all; it could just be a figment of our imagination.
  3. When investigating memory beliefs, we must keep in mind that an actual past event is not a prerequisite for a memory-belief to exist, and that what we know of the past could theoretically not need a past at all.
  4. Memory-beliefs depend wholly on what is remembered in the present, and not on anything else; just as it is not logically impossible that the world came into being five minutes ago, and that everyone now just remembers a wholly imaginary past for it.
Answer and solution

Answer: (A) That which we call 'knowledge of the past' is logically independent of the past, since the act of remembering which forms memory-beliefs happens in the present, and does not need to be based in real past occurrences, or even need a past at all.

The passage makes one argument. A memory-belief is happening now, not in the past it refers to, so nothing about it logically requires the remembered event, or any past at all, to have existed. The 'world began five minutes ago' hypothesis only illustrates this. The conclusion is that what we call knowledge of the past is logically independent of the past and can be analysed wholly into present contents. Option A states both the conclusion and its reason: remembering happens in the present and needs neither real past events nor a past. Option C is the strongest distractor. It repeats that a past event is not a prerequisite, but it drops the reason (memory-beliefs are wholly present occurrences) and the central claim of logical independence, so it is incomplete. Option B adds 'a figment of our imagination', which the passage never says. Option D turns the five-minute hypothesis into an analogy ('just as') and claims memory-beliefs depend on 'nothing else', which distorts the argument. Hence, option A (That which we call 'knowledge of the past' is logically independent of the past, since the act of remembering which forms memory-beliefs happens in the present, and does not need to be based in real past occurrences, or even need a past at all.).

Q2TITAOdd One Out

Five jumbled sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5), related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd sentence out and key in the number of that sentence as your answer. 1. The profound emotional impact of music has inspired ongoing research into its relationship with emotions. 2. Music is a universal phenomenon that utilizes a myriad brain resources. 3. This inherent connection to musical expression is deeply intertwined with human identity and experience. 4. The proclivity to create and appreciate music is ubiquitous among humans, permeating daily life across diverse societies. 5. Engaging with music is among the most cognitively demanding tasks a human can undergo, and it is identified across cultures.

Type in your answer (TITA). No negative mark for a wrong answer.

Answer and solution

Answer: 1

Sentences 2, 3, 4 and 5 all describe music as a universal human trait. Sentence 4 says the urge to create and enjoy music is found in every society, and sentence 3 follows it: 'This inherent connection to musical expression' points back to that urge and ties it to human identity. Sentence 2 calls music a universal phenomenon that draws on many brain resources, and sentence 5 develops this: engaging with music is among the most cognitively demanding tasks, and it is found across cultures. Together these four make one paragraph on music's universality and its demands on the brain. Sentence 1 moves to a different subject: music's emotional impact and the research it has inspired. Neither emotion nor research appears in the other four sentences, so sentence 1 does not belong. The answer is 1.

Reading passage

Passage for questions 3–6

The passage below is accompanied by 4 questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question. Once a society accepts a secular mode of creativity, within which the creator replaces God, imaginative transactions assume a self-conscious form. The tribal imagination, on the other hand, is still to a large extent dreamlike and hallucinatory. It admits fusion between various planes of existence and levels of time in a natural and artless manner. In tribal stories, oceans fly in the sky as birds, mountains swim in water as fish, animals speak as humans and stars grow like plants. Spatial order and temporal sequence do not restrict the narrative. This is not to say that tribal creations have no conventions or rules, but simply that they admit the principle of association between emotion and the narrative motif. Thus stars, seas, mountains, trees, men and animals can be angry, sad or happy. It might be said that tribal artists work more on the basis of their racial and sensory memory than on the basis of a cultivated imagination. In order to understand this distinction, we must understand the difference between imagination and memory. In the animate world, consciousness meets two immediate material realities: space and time. We put meaning into space by perceiving it in terms of images. The image-making faculty is a genetic gift to the human mind—this power of imagination helps us understand the space that envelops us. With regard to time, we make connections with the help of memory; one remembers being the same person today as one was yesterday. The tribal mind has a more acute sense of time than the sense of space. Somewhere along the history of human civilization, tribal communities seem to have realized that domination over territorial space was not their lot. Thus, they seem to have turned almost obsessively to gaining domination over time. This urge is substantiated in their ritual of conversing with their dead ancestors: year after year, tribals in many parts of India worship terracotta or carved-wood objects representing their ancestors, aspiring to enter a trance in which they can converse with the dead. Over the centuries, an amazingly sharp memory has helped tribals classify material and natural objects into a highly complex system of knowledge. . . . One of the main characteristics of the tribal arts is their distinct manner of constructing space and imagery, which might be described as ‘hallucinatory’. In both oral and visual forms of representation, tribal artists seem to interpret verbal or pictorial space as demarcated by an extremely flexible ‘frame’. The boundaries between art and non-art become almost invisible. A tribal epic can begin its narration from a trivial everyday event; tribal paintings merge with living space as if the two were one and the same. And within the narrative itself, or within the painted imagery, there is no deliberate attempt to follow a sequence. The episodes retold and the images created take on the apparently chaotic shapes of dreams. In a way, the syntax of language and the grammar of painting are the same, as if literature were painted words and painting were a song of images.

Q3MCQReading Comprehension

All of the following, if true, would weaken the passage's claims about the hallucinatory tribal imagination EXCEPT that:
  1. tribal stories depict the natural world in accordance with rational scientific knowledge.
  2. tribal narratives exhibit a chronological beginning, middle, and end.
  3. shamanic rituals involving conversing with the dead often feature in tribal stories.
  4. tribal art excludes the depiction of the mundane reality of everyday life and objects.
Answer and solution

Answer: (C) shamanic rituals involving conversing with the dead often feature in tribal stories.

The passage calls the tribal imagination dreamlike and 'hallucinatory': it fuses planes of existence and levels of time, is not restricted by spatial order or temporal sequence, and blurs art with everyday life. A statement weakens this claim if it shows tribal art as rational, sequential or cut off from ordinary life. Option A weakens it: stories that follow rational scientific knowledge would not show oceans flying or mountains swimming. Option B weakens it: a chronological beginning, middle and end contradicts the claim that the narrative makes no attempt to follow a sequence. Option D weakens it: the passage says a tribal epic can begin from a trivial everyday event and that paintings merge with living space, so excluding mundane life contradicts it. Option C does not weaken the claim. The passage itself describes tribals seeking a trance in which they can converse with their dead ancestors, so stories featuring such rituals fit its picture of a memory-driven, dreamlike imagination. Hence, option C (shamanic rituals involving conversing with the dead often feature in tribal stories.).

Q4MCQReading Comprehension

On the basis of the passage, which one of the following explains the main difference between imagination and memory?
  1. Imagination needs to be cultivated whereas memory is more intuitive because it is racial and sensory.
  2. Imagination helps humans make sense of space while memory helps them understand time.
  3. Tribal groups value memory over imagination when it comes to creating art and literature.
  4. Imagination is a genetic gift to humans whereas memory is central to human consciousness.
Answer and solution

Answer: (B) Imagination helps humans make sense of space while memory helps them understand time.

The second paragraph defines the difference directly. Consciousness meets two realities, space and time. We give meaning to space by perceiving it in images, which is the work of imagination. We make connections across time with memory, as when one remembers being the same person today as yesterday. So imagination deals with space and memory with time, which is option B. Option A is the strongest distractor because it borrows the passage's words: tribal artists are said to work more from 'racial and sensory memory' than from a 'cultivated imagination'. But that sentence is about tribal art, not the general difference between the two faculties, and the passage never calls memory 'intuitive'. Option C is about what tribal groups rely on, not about how imagination and memory differ. Option D takes one true detail (imagination is a genetic gift) and pairs it with a claim the passage does not make, that memory is central to consciousness, so it does not contrast the two. Hence, option B (Imagination helps humans make sense of space while memory helps them understand time.).

Q5MCQReading Comprehension

Non-human living forms exhibit human emotions in tribal narratives because tribal narratives:
  1. are rudimentary and underdeveloped.
  2. have a self-conscious form.
  3. accommodate existential fluidity.
  4. abandon all rules and regulations.
Answer and solution

Answer: (C) accommodate existential fluidity.

The first paragraph says the tribal imagination 'admits fusion between various planes of existence and levels of time'. Oceans fly like birds, mountains swim like fish and animals speak as humans. Tribal creations also admit 'the principle of association between emotion and the narrative motif', so stars, seas, mountains, trees and animals can be angry, sad or happy. Non-human forms feel human emotions because the boundaries between kinds of being are fluid. That is 'existential fluidity', option C. Option D is the strongest distractor, but the passage says outright: 'This is not to say that tribal creations have no conventions or rules.' The fluidity works within conventions, so 'abandon all rules and regulations' is wrong. Option A is a judgement the passage never makes; it treats tribal art as distinctive, not underdeveloped. Option B describes the opposite mode: a 'self-conscious form' belongs to secular creativity, which the passage contrasts with the tribal imagination. Hence, option C (accommodate existential fluidity.).

Q6MCQReading Comprehension

Which one of the following best explains why tribals in India worship their dead ancestors?
  1. Tribals show respect to their ancestors through terracotta and carved-wood objects.
  2. For tribals, conversing with the dead becomes a way of seeking control over time.
  3. Tribals possess a sophisticated knowledge system that is based on memory.
  4. Tribals seek territorial domination over the spaces that they inhabit.
Answer and solution

Answer: (B) For tribals, conversing with the dead becomes a way of seeking control over time.

The third paragraph says the tribal mind has a sharper sense of time than of space. Tribal communities realised that domination over territorial space 'was not their lot', so they turned almost obsessively to gaining domination over time. The passage offers ancestor worship as evidence of this urge: tribals worship objects representing their ancestors, hoping to enter a trance and converse with the dead. Conversing with the dead reaches across time, so it is a way of seeking control over time, option B. Option A is the strongest distractor. It describes how the worship is done (through terracotta and carved-wood objects), not why it is done. The passage gives the reason as the urge to dominate time, not respect. Option C is true, since sharp memory helped tribals build a complex knowledge system, but the passage does not give it as the reason for ancestor worship. Option D contradicts the passage, which says territorial domination was not their lot. Hence, option B (For tribals, conversing with the dead becomes a way of seeking control over time.).

Reading passage

Passage for questions 7–10

The passage below is accompanied by 4 questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question. Imagine a world in which artificial intelligence is entrusted with the highest moral responsibilities: sentencing criminals, allocating medical resources, and even mediating conflicts between nations. This might seem like the pinnacle of human progress: an entity unburdened by emotion, prejudice or inconsistency, making ethical decisions with impeccable precision. . . . Yet beneath this vision of an idealised moral arbiter lies a fundamental question: can a machine understand morality as humans do, or is it confined to a simulacrum of ethical reasoning? AI might replicate human decisions without improving on them, carrying forward the same biases, blind spots and cultural distortions from human moral judgment. In trying to emulate us, it might only reproduce our limitations, not transcend them. But there is a deeper concern. Moral judgment draws on intuition, historical awareness and context – qualities that resist formalisation. Ethics may be so embedded in lived experience that any attempt to encode it into formal structures risks flattening its most essential features. If so, AI would not merely reflect human shortcomings; it would strip morality of the very depth that makes ethical reflection possible in the first place. Still, many have tried to formalise ethics, by treating certain moral claims not as conclusions, but as starting points. A classic example comes from utilitarianism, which often takes as a foundational axiom the principle that one should act to maximise overall wellbeing. From this, more specific principles can be derived, for example, that it is right to benefit the greatest number, or that actions should be judged by their consequences for total happiness. As computational resources increase, AI becomes increasingly well-suited to the task of starting from fixed ethical assumptions and reasoning through their implications in complex situations. But what, exactly, does it mean to formalise something like ethics? The question is easier to grasp by looking at fields in which formal systems have long played a central role. Physics, for instance, has relied on formalisation for centuries. There is no single physical theory that explains everything. Instead, we have many physical theories, each designed to describe specific aspects of the Universe: from the behaviour of quarks and electrons to the motion of galaxies. These theories often diverge. Aristotelian physics, for instance, explained falling objects in terms of natural motion toward Earth’s centre; Newtonian mechanics replaced this with a universal force of gravity. These explanations are not just different; they are incompatible. Yet both share a common structure: they begin with basic postulates – assumptions about motion, force or mass – and derive increasingly complex consequences. . . . Ethical theories have a similar structure. Like physical theories, they attempt to describe a domain – in this case, the moral landscape. They aim to answer questions about which actions are right or wrong, and why. These theories also diverge and, even when they recommend similar actions, such as giving to charity, they justify them in different ways. Ethical theories also often begin with a small set of foundational principles or claims, from which they reason about more complex moral problems.

Q7MCQReading Comprehension

Which one of the options below best summarises the passage?
  1. The passage rejects formal methods in principle. It holds that moral judgement cannot be expressed in disciplined terms and concludes that AI should not serve in courts, medicine, or diplomacy under any conditions.
  2. The passage highlights administrative gains from automation. It treats reproducing human moral judgement as progress and argues that, as computational resources increase, AI can be responsible for decision-making across varied institutional settings.
  3. The passage weighs the appeal of an impersonal AI judge against doubts about moral grasp. It warns that codification can erode case-sensitive judgement, allow axiom-led reasoning at scale, and use a physics analogy to model structured plurality.
  4. The passage weighs the appeal of an impersonal AI judge against doubts about moral grasp. It claims codified schemes retain case nuance at scale and uses a physics analogy to predict convergence on a unified framework.
Answer and solution

Answer: (C) The passage weighs the appeal of an impersonal AI judge against doubts about moral grasp. It warns that codification can erode case-sensitive judgement, allow axiom-led reasoning at scale, and use a physics analogy to model structured plurality.

The passage moves in four steps. It opens with the appeal of an AI judge free of emotion and prejudice, then asks whether a machine can grasp morality or only simulate it. It warns that ethics rests on intuition, history and context, which formalisation may flatten. It notes that utilitarian axioms let AI reason from fixed starting points as computing power grows. Finally, it compares ethics to physics: many divergent theories, each built from basic postulates. Option C covers all four steps, including the physics analogy for structured plurality. Option D is the strongest distractor, since its first sentence matches C. But it says codified schemes 'retain case nuance', while the passage warns they may flatten it, and it says the analogy predicts convergence, while the passage stresses that theories diverge. Option A overstates: the passage never rules out AI in courts, medicine or diplomacy 'under any conditions'. Option B treats reproducing human judgement as progress, but the passage says this would only reproduce our limitations. Hence, option C (The passage weighs the appeal of an impersonal AI judge against doubts about moral grasp. It warns that codification can erode case-sensitive judgement, allow axiom-led reasoning at scale, and use a physics analogy to model structured plurality.).

Q8MCQReading Comprehension

All of the following can reasonably be inferred from the passage EXCEPT:
  1. the appeal of an AI judge rests on immunity to bribery, partiality, and fatigue; yet the text questions whether procedural cleanliness amounts to moral understanding without lived context and interpretive depth.
  2. with fixed moral starting points and expanding computational resources, the argument forecasts convergence on one ethical system and treats contextual judgement as unnecessary once formal reasoning scales across domains and cultures.
  3. encoding ethics into fixed structures risks stripping away intuition, history, and context and, if that occurs, the depth that enables reflective judgement disappears. So, machines would mirror our limits rather than exceed them.
  4. by analogy with physics, compact postulates can yield broad predictions across incompatible theories and ethics can likewise share structure while continuing to diverge rather than close on a single comprehensive framework.
Answer and solution

Answer: (B) with fixed moral starting points and expanding computational resources, the argument forecasts convergence on one ethical system and treats contextual judgement as unnecessary once formal reasoning scales across domains and cultures.

We need the one statement the passage does not support. Option B cannot be inferred. The passage says ethical theories, like physical ones, 'diverge', so it forecasts no convergence on one system. It also stresses that moral judgement draws on intuition, history and context that resist formalisation, so it never treats contextual judgement as unnecessary. The other three follow from the passage. Option A: the appeal of an AI judge is freedom from emotion, prejudice and inconsistency, yet the passage asks whether a machine grasps morality or only a simulacrum of it. 'Bribery' and 'fatigue' are not the passage's words, which makes A the closest call, but its core contrast is in the text. Option C restates the second paragraph: encoding ethics may flatten its essential features, and AI would reproduce our limitations rather than transcend them. Option D restates the physics analogy: theories share a structure of basic postulates yet diverge. Hence, option B (with fixed moral starting points and expanding computational resources, the argument forecasts convergence on one ethical system and treats contextual judgement as unnecessary once formal reasoning scales across domains and cultures.).

Q9MCQReading Comprehension

The passage compares ethics to physics, where different theories apply to different aspects of a domain and says AI can reason from fixed starting points in complex cases. Which one of the assumptions below must hold for that comparison to guide practice?
  1. A single master framework replaces all others after translation into one code, so domain boundaries disappear in application.
  2. Real cases never straddle different areas, so a case always fits exactly one framework without any overlap whatsoever.
  3. Once formalised, all ethical frameworks yield the same recommendation in every case, so selection among them is unnecessary.
  4. There is a principled way to decide which ethical framework applies to which class of cases, so the system can select the relevant starting points before deriving a recommendation.
Answer and solution

Answer: (D) There is a principled way to decide which ethical framework applies to which class of cases, so the system can select the relevant starting points before deriving a recommendation.

In physics, no single theory covers everything; different theories describe different aspects of the Universe. If ethics works the same way, several frameworks each cover part of the moral landscape. For an AI to reason 'from fixed starting points', it must first know which starting points apply to the case in front of it. So the comparison guides practice only if there is a principled way to match frameworks to classes of cases, which is option D. Option B is the strongest distractor, but it demands too much. A rule for choosing frameworks is needed; a guarantee that no real case ever straddles two areas is not, and the passage claims nothing so absolute. Option A contradicts the analogy, which rests on many theories coexisting, not on one master code. Option C would make choosing pointless, but the passage says ethical theories diverge and justify even similar actions in different ways. Hence, option D (There is a principled way to decide which ethical framework applies to which class of cases, so the system can select the relevant starting points before deriving a recommendation.).

Q10MCQReading Comprehension

Choose the one option below that comes closest to being the opposite of "utilitarianism".
  1. The authors advocated an absolutist stance, following exceptionless rules regardless of outcomes and evaluating choices by broadest societal benefit.
  2. The committee adopted a non-egoist framework, ranking policies by their contribution to overall social welfare and treating self-interest as a derivative concern within institutional evaluation.
  3. The policy was cast as deontological ethics, selecting the option that delivered the highest total benefit to citizens while presenting duty as a secondary consideration in public decision-making.
  4. The council followed a prioritarian approach, assigning greater moral weight to improvements for the worst-off rather than to maximising total welfare across the affected population.
Answer and solution

Answer: (D) The council followed a prioritarian approach, assigning greater moral weight to improvements for the worst-off rather than to maximising total welfare across the affected population.

The passage defines utilitarianism by its axiom: act to maximise overall wellbeing, judging actions by their consequences for total happiness. The opposite must reject maximising the total. Option D does this. A prioritarian gives greater weight to gains for the worst-off 'rather than' maximising total welfare, so it replaces the utilitarian aim with a different one. The other options keep the utilitarian core under another label. Option B ranks policies by 'overall social welfare', which is utilitarian. Option C is called deontological, but it picks 'the highest total benefit' and makes duty secondary, so in practice it is utilitarian. Option A is the strongest distractor, since exceptionless rules followed 'regardless of outcomes' do oppose utilitarianism. But the same option then evaluates choices by 'broadest societal benefit', which is the utilitarian test, so it contradicts itself and is not a clean opposite. Hence, option D (The council followed a prioritarian approach, assigning greater moral weight to improvements for the worst-off rather than to maximising total welfare across the affected population.).

Reading passage

Passage for questions 11–14

The passage below is accompanied by 4 questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question. Over the course of the twentieth century, humans built, on average, one large dam a day, hulking structures of steel and concrete designed to control flooding, facilitate irrigation, and generate electricity. Dams were also lucrative contracts, large-scale employers, and the physical instantiation of a messianic drive to conquer territories and control nature. Some of the results of that drive were charismatic mega-infrastructure—the Hoover on the Colorado River or the Aswan on the Nile—but most of the tens of thousands of dams that dot the Earth’s landscape have drawn little attention. These are the smaller, though not inconsequential, barriers that today impede the flow of water on nearly two-thirds of the world’s large waterways. Chances are, what your map calls a “lake” is actually a reservoir, and that thin blue line that emerges from it once flowed very differently. Damming a river is always a partisan act. Even when explicit infrastructure goals— irrigation, flood control, electrification—were met, other consequences were significant and often deleterious. Across the world, river control displaced millions of people, threatening livelihoods, foodways, and cultures. In the western United States, dams were often an instrument of colonialism, used to dispossess Indigenous people and subsidize settler agriculture. And as dams slowed the flow of water, inhibited the movement of nutrients, and increased the amount of toxic algae and other parasites, they snuffed out entire river ecologies. Declining fish populations are the most evident effect, but dams also threaten a host of other animals—from birds and reptiles to fungi and plants—with extinction. Every major dam, then, is also a sacrifice zone, a place where lives, livelihoods, and ways of life are eliminated so that new sorts of landscapes can support water-intensive agriculture and cities that sprout downstream of new reservoirs. Such sacrifices have been justified as offerings at the temples of modernity. Justified by—and for—whom, though? Over the course of the twentieth century, rarely were the costs and benefits weighed thoughtfully and decided democratically. As Kader Asmal, chair of the landmark 2000 World Commission on Dams, concluded, “There have been precious few, if any, comprehensive, independent analyses as to why dams came about, how dams perform over time, and whether we are getting a fair return from our $2 trillion investment.” A quarter century later, Asmal’s words ring ever truer. A litany of dams built in the mid-twentieth century are approaching the end of their expected lives, with worrying prospects for their durability. Droughts, magnified and multiplied by the effects of climate change, have forced more and more to run below capacity. If ever there were a time to rethink the mania for dams, it would be now. There is some evidence that a combination of opposition, alternative energy sources, and a lack of viable projects has slowed the construction of major dams. But a wave of recent and ongoing construction, from India and China to Ethiopia and Canada, continues to tilt the global balance firmly in favor of water impoundment.

Q11MCQReading Comprehension

What does the author wish to communicate by referring to the Hoover and Aswan dams in the first paragraph?
  1. The designers and builders of these mega-structures were highly charismatic individuals.
  2. The Colorado and Nile rivers may be seen as thin blue lines on a map.
  3. By building dams like the Hoover and Aswan dams, large-scale employers became messianic figures.
  4. The drive to control nature is evident not only in mega-infrastructures like the Hoover and Aswan dams, but in smaller dams as well.
Answer and solution

Answer: (D) The drive to control nature is evident not only in mega-infrastructures like the Hoover and Aswan dams, but in smaller dams as well.

The first paragraph describes a 'messianic drive to conquer territories and control nature'. It says 'some of the results of that drive' were famous mega-projects such as the Hoover and Aswan dams, but most of the tens of thousands of dams have drawn little attention: smaller, though not inconsequential, barriers on nearly two-thirds of the world's large waterways. The famous dams are named to show that the same drive lies behind the many unnoticed ones too, which is option D. Option C is the strongest distractor, since 'large-scale employers' and 'messianic' both appear. But the passage says dams were large-scale employers and embodied a messianic drive; it never says employers became messianic figures. Option A misreads 'charismatic', which describes the dams, not their designers. Option B picks up the 'thin blue line' image, but that image makes a different point: many map 'lakes' are reservoirs and the rivers once flowed differently. It is not why the two dams are named. Hence, option D (The drive to control nature is evident not only in mega-infrastructures like the Hoover and Aswan dams, but in smaller dams as well.).

Q12MCQVocabulary Usage

The word "instantiation" is used in the first paragraph. Which one of the following pairs of terms would be the best substitute for it in the context of its usage in the paragraph?
  1. Exemplification and manifestation
  2. Durability and timeliness
  3. Development and construction
  4. Concreteness and viability
Answer and solution

Answer: (A) Exemplification and manifestation

The sentence says dams were 'the physical instantiation of a messianic drive to conquer territories and control nature'. An abstract drive takes concrete form in the dams; each dam is an instance of that drive. So 'instantiation' means embodiment: a concrete example that makes an idea visible. 'Exemplification' (being an example of something) and 'manifestation' (the visible expression of something) both carry that sense, which is option A. Option D is the strongest distractor. 'Concreteness' touches on the physical form, but 'viability' means practicality or feasibility, which has nothing to do with embodying a drive. Option C describes the act of building dams, not how dams relate to the drive they express. Option B, durability and timeliness, concerns how long projects last and when they are built, which is unrelated to the word. Hence, option A (Exemplification and manifestation).

Q13MCQReading Comprehension

All of the following statements may be considered valid inferences from the passage EXCEPT that:
  1. smaller, though not inconsequential, dams are safer than large dam projects.
  2. dam-building has proved to be an extremely costly enterprise that may not be justifiable.
  3. processes of colonisation have used dam-building to make people vacate their territories.
  4. despite increasing evidence of opposition to dams as well as alternatives to them, they continue to be built.
Answer and solution

Answer: (A) smaller, though not inconsequential, dams are safer than large dam projects.

We need the one statement the passage does not support. Option A cannot be inferred. The passage calls smaller dams 'not inconsequential' and says they impede flow on nearly two-thirds of the world's large waterways, but it never compares their safety with that of large dams. The other three are supported. Option B: Asmal questions whether the world is getting 'a fair return from our $2 trillion investment', and the passage says costs and benefits were rarely weighed thoughtfully, so the expense may not be justified. Option C: in the western United States, dams were 'an instrument of colonialism, used to dispossess Indigenous people'. Option D: opposition and alternative energy sources have slowed major dams, yet a wave of construction continues from India and China to Ethiopia and Canada. Option B is the closest call, since 'extremely costly' is strong wording, but the $2 trillion figure and the doubt about a fair return support it. Hence, option A (smaller, though not inconsequential, dams are safer than large dam projects.).

Q14MCQReading Comprehension

Which one of the following sets of terms is closest to mapping the key arguments of the passage?
  1. Lucrative contracts - Sacrifice zone - Expected lives - Global balance
  2. Physical instantiation - Partisan act - Decided democratically - Alternative energy
  3. Mega-infrastructure - Sacrifice zone - Worshipping modernity - Water impoundment
  4. Partisan act - Threatened livelihoods - Toxic algae - Quarter century
Answer and solution

Answer: (C) Mega-infrastructure - Sacrifice zone - Worshipping modernity - Water impoundment

The passage moves in four steps. Paragraph 1: humans built vast numbers of dams, from charismatic mega-infrastructure to smaller barriers. Paragraph 2: damming is a partisan act with heavy human and ecological costs. Paragraph 3: every major dam is a 'sacrifice zone', and these sacrifices were justified as 'offerings at the temples of modernity'. Paragraph 4: despite ageing dams and droughts, new construction keeps tilting the balance toward 'water impoundment'. Option C tracks these steps in order: mega-infrastructure, sacrifice zone, worshipping modernity, water impoundment. Option B is the strongest distractor, since each term comes from the passage. But 'physical instantiation' and 'alternative energy' are passing details, and 'decided democratically' names what rarely happened, so the set does not map the argument. Option A picks side phrases such as 'lucrative contracts' and 'expected lives'. Option D stays with the harms of paragraph 2 (threatened livelihoods, toxic algae) and ends on a time phrase, 'quarter century', missing the justification and the continuing construction. Hence, option C (Mega-infrastructure - Sacrifice zone - Worshipping modernity - Water impoundment).

Q15TITAPara Jumbles

The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, and 4) given 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. The effigy of a candidate establishes a personal link between him and the voters; the candidate does not only offer a programme for judgement, he suggests a physical climate, a set of daily choices expressed in a morphology, a way of dressing, a posture. 2. Some candidates for Parliament adorn their electoral prospectus with a portrait; this presupposes that photography has a power to convert which must be analysed. 3. Inasmuch as photography is an ellipse of language and a condensation of an 'ineffable' social whole, it constitutes an antiintellectual weapon and tends to spirit away 'politics' (that is to say a body of problems and solutions) to the advantage of a 'manner of being', a socio-moral status. 4. Photography tends to restore the paternalistic nature of elections, whose elitist essence has been disrupted by proportional representation and the rule of parties (the Right seems to use it more than the Left).

Type in your answer (TITA). No negative mark for a wrong answer.

Answer and solution

Answer: 2143

Sentence 2 starts the discussion by introducing how candidates use portraits (photography) in their campaigns, which then leads to a deeper exploration of the topic. Sentence 1 follows logically by explaining how the effigy (portrait) creates a personal connection between the candidate and voters. Sentence 4 draws the consequence of 1: because the portrait makes voters respond to the man himself, his physique, dress and posture, and not only to his programme, photography tends to restore the paternalistic nature of elections, which proportional representation and the rule of parties had disrupted. Sentence 3 is the widest claim, so it closes the paragraph: 'inasmuch as' photography condenses an 'ineffable' social whole into an image, it spirits away 'politics', a body of problems and solutions, in favour of a 'manner of being', which sums up both the contrast in 1 between a programme and a physical presence and the personal, paternalistic politics of 4. The correct order is 2143.

Reading passage

Passage for questions 16

The return to the tailor is the juxtaposition of three key things for the mindful Indian shopper. The first is the conscious shift away from the homogeneity of fast fashion, the idea of a hundred other people owning exactly the same Zara trench coat or H&M pleated skirt. The second is an actual understanding of the waste behind the fast fashion market, and wanting not to contribute to that anymore. The last is the shift toward customisation and fit-the idea of having imaginations brought to life and to have them fit exactly; without paying exorbitant rates for that bespoke tailoring. For the individual with a keen fashion sense and a genuine desire to move away from the waste and uniformity of fast fashion without paying the premium for it that indie brands would invariably demand, the tailor is the perfect crossover.

Q16MCQPara Summary

Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
  1. The mindful Indian shopper is shifting away from convenience and uniformity of clothing, and waste in fashion, to customisation and less exorbitantly priced clothing.
  2. The mindful Indian shoppers are returning to the tailor with a genuine desire to wear clothes which are less expensive, fit them well and are yet fashionable.
  3. All Indian shoppers are opting for customisation and a shift away from homogeneity over expensive clothing brands like Zara and H&M.
  4. In the Indian retail market, people believe that expensive branded clothes are wasteful and, therefore, are returning to the neighbourhood tailor.
Answer and solution

Answer: (A) The mindful Indian shopper is shifting away from convenience and uniformity of clothing, and waste in fashion, to customisation and less exorbitantly priced clothing.

The passage gives three reasons the mindful Indian shopper is returning to the tailor: a move away from the sameness of fast fashion (a hundred people owning the same Zara trench coat), an understanding of the waste behind fast fashion, and a wish for customised, well-fitting clothes without paying the high prices of bespoke tailoring or indie brands. Option A covers all three: away from uniformity and waste, towards customisation, at a price that is not exorbitant. Option B is the strongest distractor, but it reduces the shift to cheaper, well-fitting, fashionable clothes. It leaves out the rejection of fast fashion's sameness and the concern about waste, which the passage stresses. Option C says 'all Indian shoppers', while the passage speaks only of the mindful shopper. Option D says people think expensive branded clothes are wasteful; the passage calls fast fashion wasteful, not expensive brands. Hence, option A (The mindful Indian shopper is shifting away from convenience and uniformity of clothing, and waste in fashion, to customisation and less exorbitantly priced clothing.).

Q17TITAPara Jumbles

The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, and 4) given 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. When I ask the distinguished LGBTQ activist and writer Cherie Moraga whether she uses Latinx to refer to herself, she tells me, 'I worked too hard for the "a" in Latina to give it up! I refer to myself as Xicana.' 2. Of our accumulated ethnic population, only a third use Hispanic to identify themselves, a mere 14 percent use Latino, and less than 2 percent recognize Latinx. 3. They have done this, although gender in languages is grammatical, not sociological or sexual, and found in linguistic families throughout the world, from French to Russian to Japanese. 4. More recently, activists seeking to render our name gender neutral, out of respect for our LGBTQ members, have devised yet another name for us: Latinx.

Type in your answer (TITA). No negative mark for a wrong answer.

Answer and solution

Answer: 4312

Sentence 4 introduces the term Latinx as a recent invention aimed at making the label more inclusive for LGBTQ members. Sentence 3 must come directly after 4: 'They have done this' refers to the activists in 4 devising Latinx, and the sentence objects to that change, since gender in languages is grammatical, not sociological or sexual, and is found in language families throughout the world. Sentence 1 continues the objection through one person: asked whether she uses Latinx, the LGBTQ activist and writer Cherie Moraga refuses to give up the 'a' in Latina and calls herself Xicana. Sentence 2 then widens the view from one person to the whole population and concludes: only a third use Hispanic, a mere 14 percent use Latino, and less than 2 percent even recognise Latinx. The correct order is 4312.

Q18TITAOdd One Out

Five jumbled sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5), related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd sentence out and key in the number of that sentence as your answer. 1. About half of all the oxygen we breathe is made near the surface of the ocean by phytoplankton that photosynthesize just like land-dwelling plants. 2. A team of scientists that includes Boston University experts has discovered they also produce oxygen on the seafloor. 3. The research team used deep-sea chambers that land on the seafloor and enclose the seawater, sediment, polymetallic nodules, and living organisms. 4. The discovery is a surprise considering oxygen is typically created by plants and organisms with help from the sun-not by rocks on the ocean floor. 5. The deep-sea rocks, called polymetallic nodules, don't only host a surprising number of sea critters.

Type in your answer (TITA). No negative mark for a wrong answer.

Answer and solution

Answer: 3

The paragraph is about a surprising discovery: rocks on the seafloor produce oxygen. Sentence 1 gives the background: about half the oxygen we breathe is made by phytoplankton near the ocean surface. Sentence 5 introduces the deep-sea rocks, polymetallic nodules, and says they 'don't only host' many sea creatures. Sentence 2 completes that thought: scientists found that they 'also produce' oxygen on the seafloor. Sentence 4 explains why 'the discovery' is surprising: oxygen is usually made by plants and organisms with help from the sun, not by rocks. The 'don't only... also' link fixes 5 before 2, and 'The discovery' points back to 2, giving 1-5-2-4. Sentence 3 turns from what was found to how the study was done: the chambers the team used to enclose seawater, sediment, nodules and organisms. The other four sentences already form a complete unit from background to discovery to surprise, and this detail of method is not part of that chain. The answer is 3.

Q19MCQParagraph Completion & Placement

The given sentence is missing in the paragraph below. Decide where it best fits among the options 1, 2, 3, or 4 indicated in the paragraph. Sentence: Productivity gains, once expected to feed through to broader living standards, now primarily serve to enhance returns to wealth. Paragraph: Economists now argue that inequality is no longer a by-product of growth but a condition of it. ____ (1) ____. Unlike wages, wealth reflects not just income but also access to assets, favourable institutional conditions - such as low interest rates - and public policies like low taxes and housing shortages. ____ (2) ____. In other words, wealth depends on political choices in ways that income currently does not. It's not just the inequality itself that is the issue but the erosion of mechanisms that once constrained it. ____ (3) ____. Wealth and income inequality are linked, but where wages have stagnated and collective bargaining has weakened, capital income - derived from profits, rents and interest - has been boosted by design. ____ (4) ____.
  1. Option 4
  2. Option 2
  3. Option 1
  4. Option 3
Answer and solution

Answer: (A) Option 4

The missing sentence says productivity gains now mainly raise returns to wealth instead of living standards. It is a consequence, so the sentence before it must explain why gains go to wealth rather than to wages. That explanation comes just before blank 4: wages have stagnated and collective bargaining has weakened, while capital income from profits, rents and interest has been 'boosted by design'. The missing sentence follows directly: with wages held down and capital income boosted, productivity gains feed returns to wealth, not broad living standards. It also closes the paragraph by returning to the opening claim that inequality is now a condition of growth. Blank 1 (option C) is the strongest distractor, but there the sentence would state the outcome before the paragraph explains the split between wages and capital income that causes it. Blank 2 (option B) would separate the list of policies from 'In other words, wealth depends on political choices', which restates it. Blank 3 (option D) would cut 'the erosion of mechanisms' off from its example, the weakening of collective bargaining. Hence, option A (Option 4).

Q20MCQParagraph Completion & Placement

The given sentence is missing in the paragraph below. Decide where it best fits among the options 1, 2, 3, or 4 indicated in the paragraph. Sentence: In each of the affected males, the genetic defect was located to the X chromosome in the region of p11-12. Paragraph: The first suggested evidence of a human genetic mutation associated with aggressive behaviour came from a study in 1993. _____(1)____. Genetic and metabolic studies were conducted on a large Dutch family in which several of the males has a syndrome of borderline mental retardation and abnormal behaviour. _____(2)____. The undesirable behaviour included impulsive aggression, arson and exhibitionism. _____(3)____. A point mutation was identified in the eighth exon of the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) structural gene which changes glutamine to a termination codon. _____(4)____.
  1. Option 3
  2. Option 4
  3. Option 1
  4. Option 2
Answer and solution

Answer: (A) Option 3

The sentence mentions 'the affected males' and places 'the genetic defect' in a region of the X chromosome. So it must come after the affected males are introduced and before the defect is traced to one gene. The males are introduced after blank 1 (a Dutch family in which several males had the syndrome), and their behaviour is described after blank 2. At blank 3 the paragraph moves from symptoms to genetics: the defect is first located to region p11-12 of the X chromosome, and the next sentence narrows it to a point mutation in the MAOA gene. This is the natural order: broad location first, exact mutation second. Blank 1 (option C) fails because 'the affected males' have not yet been mentioned. Blank 2 (option D) would interrupt the description of the syndrome, which continues with impulsive aggression, arson and exhibitionism. Blank 4 (option B) would give the broad chromosomal region after the exact mutation has already been identified, reversing the order. Hence, option A (Option 3).

Reading passage

Passage for questions 21–24

In 1982, a raging controversy broke out over a forest act drafted by the Government of India. This act sought to strengthen the already extensive powers enjoyed by the forest bureaucracy in controlling the extraction, disposal and sale of forest produce. It also gave forest officials greater powers to strictly regulate the entry of any person into reserved forest areas. While forest officials justified the act on the grounds that it was necessary to stop the continuing deforestation, it was bitterly opposed by representatives of grassroots organisations, who argued that it was a major violation of the rights of peasants and tribals living in and around forest areas.

The debate over the draft forest act fuelled a larger controversy over the orientation of state forest policy. It was pointed out, for example, that the draft act was closely modelled on its predecessor, the Forest Act of 1878. The earlier Act rested on a usurpation of rights of ownership by the colonial state which had little precedent in precolonial history. It was further argued that the system of forestry introduced by the British—and continued, with little modification, after 1947 —emphasised revenue generation and commercial exploitation, while its policing orientation excluded villagers who had the most longstanding claim on forest resources. Critics called for a complete overhaul of forest administration, pressing the government to formulate policy and legislation more appropriate to present needs.

That debate is not over yet. The draft act was shelved, though it has not as yet been formally withdrawn. Meanwhile, the 1878 Act (as modified by an amendment in 1927) continues to be in operation. In response to its critics, the government has made some important changes in forest policy, e.g., no longer treating forests as a source of revenue, and stopping ecologically hazardous practices such as the clearfelling of natural forests. At the same time, it has shown little inclination to meet the major demand of the critics of forest policy—namely, abandoning the principle of state monopoly over forest land by handing over areas of degraded forests to individuals and communities for afforestation.

[The] 1878 Forest Act itself was passed only after a bitter and prolonged debate within the colonial bureaucracy, in which protagonists put forward arguments strikingly similar to those being advanced today. As is well known, the Indian Forest Department owes its origin to the requirements of railway companies. The early years of the expansion of the railway network, c. 1853 onwards, led to tremendous deforestation in peninsular India owing to the railway’s requirements of fuelwood and construction timber. Huge quantities of durable timbers were also needed for use as sleepers across the newly laid tracks. Inexperienced in forestry, the British called in German experts to commence systematic forest management. The Indian Forest Department was started in 1864, with Dietrich Brandis, formerly a Lecturer at Bonn, as the first Inspector General of Forests. The new department needed legislative backing to function effectively, and in the following year, 1865, the first forest act was passed.

Q21MCQReading Comprehension

Which one of the following best encapsulates the reason for the "raging controversy" developing into a "larger controversy"?
  1. The 1982 draft forest act further enabled the commercial exploitation of forest resources by the forest bureaucracy.
  2. The 1982 draft forest act violated the rights of tribals and peasants who lived in and around forest areas.
  3. The 1982 draft forest act was unjustifiably defended by forest officials in the face of bitter opposition by grassroots organisations.
  4. The 1982 draft forest act replicated colonial measures of control and regulation of forest resources.
Answer and solution

Answer: (D) The 1982 draft forest act replicated colonial measures of control and regulation of forest resources.

The 'raging controversy' was over the draft act itself: grassroots groups said its wider powers for forest officials violated the rights of peasants and tribals. It grew into a 'larger controversy' over the orientation of state forest policy when critics pointed out that the draft was closely modelled on the Forest Act of 1878. That colonial Act rested on the state's usurpation of ownership rights, and the British system of forestry had continued with little change after 1947. The link to colonial control is what widened the debate. Option B is the strongest distractor, but the violation of rights was the ground of the original controversy, not what turned it into a debate about forest policy as a whole. Option A picks one feature critics attacked in the old forestry system, its commercial exploitation, not the reason the debate grew. Option C: the passage never calls the officials' defence unjustified, and that defence did not widen the debate. Hence, option D (The 1982 draft forest act replicated colonial measures of control and regulation of forest resources.).

Q22MCQReading Comprehension

All of the following, if true, would weaken the narrative presented in the passage EXCEPT that:
  1. before British rule, peasants and tribal groups were denied access to forest resources by Indian rulers and their administrations.
  2. the timber requirement for railway works in nineteenth century India was met through import from China, in exchange for spices.
  3. certain tribal groups in India are responsible for climate change because their sustenance has historically depended on mass scale deforestation.
  4. nineteenth century German forestry experts were infamous for violating the rights of indigenous communities that lived in forest regions.
Answer and solution

Answer: (D) nineteenth century German forestry experts were infamous for violating the rights of indigenous communities that lived in forest regions.

The passage's narrative: the colonial state usurped forest ownership with little precolonial precedent; railway demand for fuelwood and timber caused huge deforestation from 1853; the British brought in German experts to manage forests; and villagers with the longest claim on forests were shut out. Option A would weaken it: if Indian rulers already denied peasants and tribals access to forests, the colonial takeover had a precedent. Option B would weaken it: if railway timber came from China, the railways did not drive India's deforestation. Option C would weaken it: if tribal groups caused mass deforestation, their standing as the forests' rightful users, and the blame placed on colonial policy, both suffer. Option D would not weaken it. The passage says nothing about how the German experts treated forest dwellers. If they were known for violating indigenous rights, that fits the passage's picture of an exclusionary forest system and, if anything, supports it. Hence, option D (nineteenth century German forestry experts were infamous for violating the rights of indigenous communities that lived in forest regions.).

Q23MCQReading Comprehension

According to the passage, which one of the following is not common to the 1878 Forest Act and the 1982 draft forest act?
  1. Both resulted in large scale deforestation.
  2. Both sought to establish the state's monopoly over forest resources.
  3. Both reflect a colonial mindset.
  4. Both sparked controversy and debate among the various stakeholders.
Answer and solution

Answer: (A) Both resulted in large scale deforestation.

The question asks which feature the two acts do not share. Option A is not common. The 1982 draft act was shelved and never came into force, so it cannot have caused any deforestation. Nor does the passage blame the 1878 Act: the large-scale deforestation came from the railways' demand for timber from 1853, before the Forest Department (1864) and the first forest act (1865). Option B is common: the 1878 Act rested on the colonial state's usurpation of ownership rights, and the 1982 draft sought to strengthen the forest bureaucracy's control over forest produce and over entry into reserved forests. Option C is common: the 1982 draft was closely modelled on the colonial 1878 Act. Option D is common, and is the strongest distractor: the 1982 draft set off a 'raging controversy', and the 1878 Act was passed only after a 'bitter and prolonged debate' within the colonial bureaucracy. Hence, option A (Both resulted in large scale deforestation.).

Q24MCQReading Comprehension

According to the passage, which one of the following reforms is yet to happen in India's forest policies?
  1. Involving local people in cultivating forests.
  2. A ban on deforestation.
  3. Recognising the state's claim to forest land use.
  4. Recognising the significance of forests to ecology.
Answer and solution

Answer: (A) Involving local people in cultivating forests.

The passage lists changes already made: forests are no longer treated as a source of revenue, and ecologically hazardous practices such as the clearfelling of natural forests have been stopped. It then says the government has shown little inclination to meet the critics' major demand: giving up state monopoly over forest land by handing degraded forests to individuals and communities for afforestation. That reform, involving local people in growing forests, is yet to happen. Option B is the strongest distractor, since stopping clearfelling limits deforestation. But that step has already been taken, and the passage never names a full ban as a pending reform. Option C has already happened: the state already holds a monopoly over forest land, which critics want it to give up. Option D has already happened: stopping ecologically hazardous practices shows that the ecological value of forests is recognised. Hence, option A (Involving local people in cultivating forests.).