Paragraph: The flower was not invented to please us.

It flaunted its petals and spread its perfume to attract an insect. The insect carries the pollen from flower to flower so that pollen is not carried away by wind and thus not wasted. What we call a flower’s beauty is merely a by-product and a human invention. The perfume is not there to please us, it pleases us because it is there and we have been conditioned to it.

Q. Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:
1. The author of the passage believes that flowers are creations of Nature’s luxury.
2. The author of the passage does not believe in the usefulness of flowers except as things of beauty.

Which of the assumptions given above is/are valid?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Correct answer: d) Neither 1 nor 2

Paragraph: Unlike religion and science, poetry does not posit or expect any belief in absolute truths.

Those forces or individuals who claim to have absolute truths in their grasp tend to turn dictatorial and tyrannical. Truth usually does not admit any contradictions or imperfections. It is unitarian. It is, therefore, not of much use for poetry. Poetry abides by the plurality of life and existence. Perhaps poetry follows reality which is plural, anachronistic, full of contradictions. Against the tyranny of truth, poetry remains a partisan of democratic reality. Against the arrogance of power, wealth and hierarchy, poetry proposes both humility and defiance.

Q. Which one of the following statements best reflects the most logical and rational message conveyed by the above passage?
a) It is the poetry, not science or religion, which recognizes and accepts imperfections in humans.
b) Truth is revealed through science or religion and poetry is anathema to truth.
c) Poetry is romantic, imaginary and is about feeling whereas science and religion are about truth.
d) In a world of violence, tyranny and bigotry, poetry is a form of dynamic resistance.
Correct answer: a) It is the poetry, not science or religion, which recognizes and accepts imperfections in humans.

Paragraph: Green growth involves rethinking growth strategies with regard to the impacts on environmental sustainability

and the environmental resources available to poor and vulnerable groups.
In rethinking growth, we need to focus on the current reality of a resource-constrained world. Resource intensive and, in particular energy intensive processes will need to make way for more efficient and resource frugal development strategies if we are to avoid an economic dead end or a world in which only a small elite is able to enjoy affluence in the midst of a sea of poverty.

Q. Which one of the following statements best reflects the crux of the above passage?
a) Environmental sustainability is inimical to our objective of achieving a high rate of GDP growth.
b) Poverty eradication is not possible without a rapid economic growth and the consequent environmental degradation.
c) Maintaining high environmental standards is now a prerequisite for achieving a steady, sufficient and inclusive growth.
d) With large populations, rampant poverty and limited resources of today’s world, environmental degradation cannot be prevented and inequalities are inevitable.
Correct answer: c) Maintaining high environmental standards is now a prerequisite for achieving a steady, sufficient and inclusive growth.

Paragraph: Now-a-days there is a growing trend to use interconnected home devices.

As consumers increasingly network their homes, the connected home device manufacturers and service providers will seek to overcome “thin profit margins by gathering more of our personal data-with or without our agreement turning the home into a corporate storefront”. Corporate marketers will have powerful incentives to observe consumer behaviour to understand the buying needs and preferences of the device owners.

Q. Which one of the following statements best reflects the most logical, rational, and practical message implied by the passage?
a) Knowledge of consumer behaviour leads to more capital expenditure in manufacturing sector.
b) Knowledge of consumer behaviour stimulates the growth of commerce and trade and thus helps in the overall economic development of the country.
c) Interconnected devices give a lot of comfort to home users and improve the overall quality of life.
d) Interconnected devices can be at security risk and home users may have privacy risk.
Correct answer: d) Interconnected devices can be at security risk and home users may have privacy risk.

Paragraph: In a robust democracy, reality, howsoever inconvenient it may be,

finds its expression both in the speech of political leaders and the other social forms of assertion. The existence of the real has to be transparent, both through its circulation in and by the media as well as its argumentative articulation in deliberative democracy. A normatively responsible media through its communication effect has the responsibility to circulate the content of reality without distortion.

Q. Which one of the following statements best reflects the crux of the above passage?
a) Responsible media should not distort the real in an ideal democracy.
b) Fake news seems inherent in the life of an ideal democracy.
c) There should not be any kind of restrictions on the freedom of expression in an ideal democracy.
d) Irresponsible media and political leaders cannot be effectively controlled in an ideal democracy.
Correct answer: a) Responsible media should not distort the real in an ideal democracy.

Paragraph: Evolution has endowed caterpillars that feed on corn with a unique ability,

they can induce the plant to turn off its defence against insect predators. This helps caterpillars to eat more and grow faster. The agent that causes this effect is the caterpillar’s faeces or frass. The find could throw new light on compounds associated with plant response to pathogens like fungi or bacteria.

Q. Which one of the following statements best reflects the most logical, rational, and practical message conveyed by the passage?
a) Farmers can use caterpillars to feed on weeds in their crop fields/ plantations.
b) This finding can help in the development of clinically useful antimicrobial compounds.
c) This finding can help in the development of organic, ecologically sustainable pesticides.
d) Caterpillars can be genetically modified to be predators of the other plant pests.
Correct answer: c) This finding can help in the development of organic, ecologically sustainable pesticides.

Paragraph: Geographers analyzed 175 satellite images of ocean colour,

which is an indicator of Phytoplankton productivity at the ocean’s surface, and found that giant icebergs are responsible for storing up to 20 percent of carbon in the Southern Ocean. The researchers discovered that melting water from giant icebergs which contains iron and other nutrients, supports hitherto unexpectedly high levels of phytoplankton growth.

Q. Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:
1. Giant icebergs have a bearing on primary productivity and food chains of the Southern Ocean.
2. Melting of giant icebergs can produce climate change effects and impact world fisheries.

Which of the assumptions given above is/are valid?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Correct answer: a) 1 only

Paragraph: When an international team of pumped a carbon dioxide

and water mix into underground basalt rocks, basic chemistry took over.
The acidic mixture dissolved rocks’ calcium and magnesium and formed limestone Basically carbon dioxide is converted into stone, exclaimed the scientists.

Q. Which one of the following statements best reflects the most logical, rational, and practical suggestion implied by the passage?
a) It is a cheap and practical method to produce limestone at commercial level for building purposes.
b) This can be used as one of the methods of carbon sequestration.
c) Basalt rock can be made a good source of calcium and magnesium minerals by this method.
d) Good rock-dissolving acid can be produced by mixing carbon dioxide and water.
Correct answer: b) This can be used as one of the methods of carbon sequestration.

Paragraph: When a child reaches adolescence, there is apt to be a conflict between the parents and the child,

since the latter considers himself to be by now quite capable of managing his own affairs, while the former are filled with parental solicitude, which is often a disguise for love of power. Parents consider, usually, that the various moral problems which arise in adolescence are peculiarly their province. The options they express, however, are so dogmatic that the young seldom confide in them, and usually go their own way in secret.

Q1. Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:
1. The adolescent does not feel comfortable with his parents because they tend to be dominating and assertive.
2. The adolescent of modern times does not have much respect for parents.

Which of the assumptions given above is/are valid?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Correct answer: a) 1 only

Q2. Which one of the following statements best reflects the central idea of the above passage?
a) Parents in general may not be of much help when children are on their way to becoming adults.
b) When children reach adolescence, involvement of parents in their lives is unnecessary.
c) Modern-day nuclear families are not capable of bringing up children properly.
d) In modern societies, adolescents tend to be Stubborn, disobedient and careless.
Correct answer: a) Parents in general may not be of much help when children are on their way to becoming adults.

Paragraph: Conventional classrooms, by emphasizing fixed duration over learning effectiveness, resign themselves to variable outcomes.

The tyranny of the classroom is that every learner is subjected to the same set of lectures in the same way for the same duration. In the end, a few learners shine, some survive, and the rest are left behind. After the fixed duration, the classroom model moves on, with not a thought spared for those left behind. This is how we end up with 10 percent employability in our graduates after a decade and half of formal education. Repeating the same ineffectual script in the realm of skill education will not produce different results.

Q1. Which of the following statements best reflects/reflect the most logical and rational inference/inferences that can be made from the passage?
1. In conventional classroom learning, the central goal is duration of Learning rather than attainment of competency.
2. Conventional classrooms encourage one-size-fits-all approach and stamp out all differentiation.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Correct answer: c) Both 1 and 2

Q2. Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:
1. As a large number of workers in our country are employed in the unorganized sector, India does not need to change its present conventional classroom system of education.
2. Even with its present conventional classroom system of education, India produces a sufficient number of skilled workers to fully realize the benefits of demographic dividend.

Which of the assumptions given above is/are valid?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Correct answer: d) Neither 1 nor 2