Each of the following questions is a logical sequence of statements with a missing link, the location of which is shown with a blank space. From the choices available, you are required to choose the one which best fits the sequence logically.
| 1. It all began when I got sick. I couldn’t do anything except rest in my room all the time. My father bought me a sci-fi novel. ______. | Easy |
| A. I didn’t feel like reading it. B. That’s how I began reading it. C. I became a best-selling author. D. I hated her for it. |
View Answer
Answer: Option B
Explanation:
Option B is the correct fit because it rightly describes that only after the author was bought a novel by his/her father that he/she was tempted to read it.
| 2. The man blamed for the failure is the CEO of the organization, Mr. Carlson. He is accused of ineffective leadership and failing to fund research activities for promising new products. Mr. Carlson, 59, has three more years as CEO before his retirement. _______. |
Easy |
| A. He is trying to improve. B. But, he could be under pressure by the board to go earlier. C. He could get a promotion. D. The company’s annual profits have gone down. |
View Answer
Answer: Option B
Explanation:
Options C & A are counter-intuitive given the context of the passage.
Option D is incorrect because ideally “The company’s annual profits have gone down” if true, should have been mentioned in the very beginning of the passage where the author talks about ‘failure’. It does not make sense as a concluding statement.
By rule of elimination, Option B is a logical fit.
| 3. People arguing for a position have been known to cast the opposite in an unnecessarily feeble light ______ People who indulge in this fallacy may be fearful or ignorant of a strong counter argument. Detecting this policy often depends on having already heard a better refutation, or having information with which to construct one. | Easy |
| A. Casting the opposite as weaker than it really is, is not a very effective strategy. B. This portrayal of a refutation as weaker than it really is, is a sure way of proving your point. C. Casting the opposite as weaker than it really is, is a very effective strategy. D. This portrayal of refutation as weaker than it really is, is unwarranted. |
View Answer
Answer: Option A
Explanation:
According to the author of this passage, it is a mistaken belief (i.e., a fallacy) to portray the opposite side as weak. This stance by the author clearly rules out Options B & C.
Option D states that doing so is unforgivable and inexcusable which is too extreme in light of this passage’s context.
Hence, Option A is the best fit.
| 4. A deliberation is a form of discussion in which two people begin on different sides of an issue ______ Then each decides in the light of the other argument whether to adopt the other position, to change his or her position somewhat, or to maintain the same position. Both sides realise that to modify one’s position is not to lose; the point is to get closer to the truth of the matter. | Easy |
| A. Each person argues his or her position most sincerely. B. The purpose is to resolve the issue to the satisfaction of both parties. C. The trick is to state your viewpoint from a position of strength. D. The prerequisite for deliberation to be productive is that persons involved must keep an open mind. |
View Answer
Answer: Option A
Explanation:
In the first glance, all options seem befitting. On a closer look, Option A seems best as people on opposite sides argue their positions sincerely.
| 5. The question of what rights animals should enjoy is a vexatious one. Hundreds of millions of animals are put to death for human use each year. Contrary wise, it can be argued that slowing down scientific research would retard discovery of antidote to diseases such as cancer which kill humans and animals alike______. What if super intelligent beings from Alpha Centuari landed on Earth and decided to use us for their experiments, arguing that they could save for more of their and our lives by doing so? | Easy |
| A. Is the argument truly fair to animals? B. It will benefit both in the long run. C. There is no question of equating human rights with those of animals. D. But the progress of human civilisation cannot be made contingent on some hypothetical rights of animals. |
View Answer
Answer: Option A
Explanation:
Option B is incorrect because it is not clear what It is referring to. Options C & D are incorrect because they do not connect with the sentence immediately before the blank.
By rule of elimination, Option A is correct.
| 6. Many of us live one-eyed lives. We rely largely on the eye of the mind to form out images of reality. It is a mechanical world based on facts and reason _____ . So today more and more of us are opening the other eye, the eye of the heart, looking for realities to which the mind’s eye is blind. This is a world warmed and transformed by the power of love, a vision of community beyond the mind’s capacity to see. Either eye alone is not enough. We need ‘wholesight’, a vision of world in which mind and heart unite. | Medium |
| A. It has led to unprecedented scientific growth and material well-being. B. In the nuclear age, our mind-made world has been found flawed and dangerous, even lethal. C. The question is irrelevant whether or not it can be seen and reasoned. D. We have built our lives based on it because it seemed predictable and safe. |
View Answer
Answer: Option B
Explanation:
Option C is incorrect because there is no reference to any question in the passage.
Options A & D can be ruled out because if used in the passage, it’ll stay unclear as to what ‘it’ in these options refer to.
Option B is correct because the passage begins with talking about the mind eye and Option B further elaborates it.
| 7. Thus, the end of knowledge and the closing of the frontier that it symbolises is not a looming crisis at all, but merely one of many embarrassing fits of hubris in civilisation’s long industry. In the end, it will pass away and be forgotten. Ours is not the first generation to struggle to understand the organisational laws of the frontier, deceive itself that it has succeeded, and go to its grave having failed. ______ | Medium |
| A. But we might be the first generation to actually reach the frontier B. One would be wise to be humble C. But we might be the first generation to deal with the crisis D. However, this time the success is not illusionary |
View Answer
Answer: Option B
Explanation:
Option C is incorrect because it contradicts “Ours is not the first generation to struggle to….”.
Option D is incorrect because nowhere does the author give any hint about people being in any kind of misconception.
Option C is illogical because as per the author, this is not the first time that a generation has experience a phase like this.
The passage talks about hubris i.e., excessive pride of civilisation and humility is a direct result. Thus, Option B is correct.
| 8. Most firms consider expert individuals to be to elitist, temperamental, ego centric and difficult to work with. Force such people to collaborate on a high-stakes project and they just might come to fisticuffs. Even the very notion of managing such a group seems unimaginable. So, most organisations fall into default mode, setting up a project teams of people who get along nicely. ___ | Medium |
| A. The result, however, is disastrous B. The result is creation of experts who then become elitists C. Naturally, they drive innovations D. The result is mediocrity |
View Answer
Answer: Option D
Explanation:
Option A can be ruled out since it is too extreme.
Option C is incorrect because the passage does not mention any such thing.
Option B is incorrect according to the passage.
By rule of elimination, Option D is correct.
The passage talks about hubris i.e., excessive pride of civilisation and humility is a direct result. Thus, Option B is correct.
| 9. The audiences for crosswords and sudoku, understandably, overlap greatly, but there are differences too. A crossword attracts a more literary person, while sudoku appeals to a keenly logical mind. Some crossword enthusiasts turn off their noses at sudoku because they feel it lacks depth. A good crossword requires vocabulary, knowledge, mental flexibility and sometimes even a sense of humour to complete. It touches numerous areas of life and provides an Ahaa or two along the way. ______ | Difficult |
| A. Sudoku, incidentally, is growing faster in popularity than crosswords, even among the literati B. Sudoku, on the other hand, is just a logical exercise each one similar to the last C. Sudoku, on the other hand, can be attempted and enjoyed even by children D. Sudoku, however, is not exciting in any sense of the term |
View Answer
Answer: Option B
Explanation:
Option C can be ruled out because the passage does not talk about who the sudoku audience is exactly.
Option A is incorrect because it is in direct contrast with “A crossword attracts a more literary person, while sudoku appeals to a keenly logical mind.”
Option D is extreme in nature because according to the passage only some people who enjoy crosswords are not fans of sudoku. Therefore, this option is also eliminated.
By rule of elimination, Option B is correct.
| 10. Federer’s fifth grand slam win prompted a reporter to ask whether he was the best ever. Federer is certainly not lacking in confidence, but he was not about to proclaim himself the best ever. “The best player of this generation, yes”, he said, but nowhere close to ever. “Just look at the records that some guys have. I am a minnow.” ______ | Difficult |
| A. His win against Agassi, a genius from the previous generation, contradicts that B. Sampras, the king of an earlier generation, was as humble C. He is more than a minnow to his contemporaries D. The difference between “the best of this generation” and “the best ever” is a matter of perception |
View Answer
Answer: Option C
Explanation:
Option B can be ruled out because the passage does not talk about humility.
Option D is a personal opinion and does not fit well as a concluding line of the passage.
Between Options A & C, Option C is the best fit because it is an extension of the concept of being an insignificant person i.e., a minnow.