VT 61 - LITMUS TEST

1

In the following questions, a sentence or paragraph is broken into fragments

and labelled A, B, C and D. Some of these fragments carry grammatical or

usage errors in the context of the sentence/paragraph. Choose for your

answer the combination that shows all the INCORRECT fragments.

A. Notable among Ramkinkar’s work is Santhal Family,

B. which depicts members of the Santhal tribe spread in eastern India,

C. moving home with its possessions.

D. Ramkinkar was one of a kind, cut off from the material world.

1) A, B and C

2) D only

3) B and C

4) B only

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2

In the following question the word given at the top of the question is used in

four different ways. Choose the sentence in which the use of the word is

INAPPROPRIATE.

DUE

1) My wife is due in three weeks.

2) He deserves to be given his due.

3) The island lies due south of the Lighthouse.

4) He was absent due to illness.

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3


Choose the most logical sequence for the sentences labelled A, B, C, and D

to form a coherent paragraph.

A. From the Bank’s establishment until today, the unwritten rule has been that the US

government simply designates each new president: all 11 have been Americans, and

not a single one has been an expert in economic development, or had a career in

fighting poverty or promoting environmental sustainability.

B. With the Bank just two blocks away from the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue,

it has been all too easy for the US to dominate the World Bank.

C. Instead, the US has selected Wall Street bankers and politicians, presumably to

ensure that the Bank’s policies are suitably friendly to US commercial and political

interests.

D. Now many members, including Brazil, China, India, and several African countries,

are raising their voices in support of more collegial leadership and an improved

strategy that works for all.

1) ABDC

2) ACBD

3) BDAC

4) BADC


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4

Complete the paragraph most appropriately using the best option.

Censorship is a subtle thing in the sense that it operates out of sight, out of

awareness, and taking things out of our world makes it really easy for any

brief spurts of attention to die natural deaths. Yet there is a paradox in our

perceptions. We imagine censorship as something that would jar us, stop

words abruptly. While possible, it is usually not like this. Ideas going missing

in the world paradoxically enclose us in these tiny cocoons of fantasies: that

we can say what we like. Or that we are hearing a balanced view of

everything. ____________________.

1) We forget that there are things that cannot be said.

2) We are not aware of what is missing.

3) Censorship is a continuous thing.

4) And make no mistake, that view is quite censored.

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5

Akanksha, Bishal, Celine, Diana, Falguni, Gaurav, Hiren and Nilesh plan to

go to a picnic for which they book an 8 seater car. There are 2 seats

(including the driver’s seat) at the front, 2 seats in the middle and 4 seats at

the back of the car. Each group of seats (front, back and middle) is

considered as an independent block. Falguni always wants to sit with Bishal

as they are best friends. Hiren and Celine don’t sit in the same block of

seats. Diana and Akanksha always sit in the same block of seats. If Diana is

driving the car, who amongst the following cannot sit in the second block of

two seats?


1) Nilesh

2) Hiren

3) Celine

4) Bishal


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6

In the following question the word given at the top of the question is used in

four different ways. Choose the sentence in which the use of the word is

INAPPROPRIATE.

END

1) The drugs can't end the disease's progress, may only slow it

down.

2) End markets for an industry can be local or international.

3) The car's front end was damaged.

4) The lecture is scheduled to end at noon.


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7

Four sentences labelled A, B, C, and D are given in random order. Three of

these sentences belong to the same paragraph, and can be arranged

logically to form a coherent paragraph. One of the sentences does not fit into

this paragraph. Choose the ODD sentence for your answer.

A. When people use pirated books, the publisher and the author often are worse off –

they lose earnings from selling the book.

B. And, in any case, we are now a long way from the standard cases of stealing.

C. I am better off, but she is worse off.

D. If I steal someone’s book the old-fashioned way, I have the book, and the original

owner no longer does.

1) A

2) B

3) C

4) D


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Conventional wisdom holds that financial markets are informationally efficient—that stocks are always priced and traded at the intrinsic value of their underlying assets. Thus, investors cannot expect to achieve returns consistently in excess of average returns, given information that is publicly available at the time, without taking on large economic risks akin to gambling risks. In other words, one can only obtain higher returns by purchasing riskier investments, and not through expert timing or speculative stock selection. There are three major interpretations of this efficient market hypothesis: Weak Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), which holds that current prices for assets, such as stocks, bonds, and property, reflect all past prices, Semi-strong EMH, which argues that prices change instantly to reflect all new public information (such as news of a take-over or a change in fiscal policy), and Strong EMH, which claims that prices adjust perpetually to reflect hidden, insider information not yet made public.

Weak EMH holds that technical analysis, the analysis of past stock performance, will not consistently produce excess returns because future price movements are only determined by current share prices and information not contained in historical price data. Under this hypothesis, share prices demonstrate no serial dependencies (recognizable patterns) that can be exploited by investors. However, most financial analysts whose job it is to make recommendations about whether to buy, hold, or sell stocks point to research showing that some markets demonstrate trends, such as cycles, over time and moreover, that the longer the period of study, the higher the degree of trending.

Semi-strong EMH posits that prices adjust proportionally and near-instantaneously to reflect the most current public information. To disprove this hypothesis, analysts have looked for repeated or substantial changes immediately after an initial price change; these changes would indicate that there is some market reaction to the initial change leading to an adjustment period during which the market price of a stock and its true value are not perfectly matched. If it were found, this adjustment period could theoretically be capitalized upon through fundamental analysis—the assessment of market information—and strategic timing. Investors and computer scientists who recognize this possibility have constructed complex algorithms to discover opportunities for arbitrage, the practice of capitalizing on price differences between markets that may occur only for milliseconds.

Strong EMH claims that the market is perfectly efficient in terms of all private and public information. Investors who have consistently gained excess returns are often used as examples to disprove Strong EMH (and to prove that strategy can yield excess returns), though a solid refutation generally follows from proponents of Strong EMH: among thousands of investors, some will succeed based on pure chance, rather than expert stock selection, purchase timing, or discrepancies between the true and market values of stocks. Thus, proponents of Strong EMH claim, the fact that investors sometimes see high returns does not, in and of itself, disprove even the Strong EMH hypothesis

Q 8

According to the passage, someone who believes in the Weak Efficient Market Hypothesis would agree with all of the following statements EXCEPT
[A] One can only obtain higher returns by assuming more risk.
[B] Knowledge of historical price data will not significantly enhance an investor’s capacity to achieve excess returns consistently.
[C] Historical price data does not contain information that would determine future price movements.
[D] Technical analysis is not a productive strategy for gaining excess returns consistently.
[E] New market information concerning an important take-over would be immediately reflected in the current price of a share.

Q 9

It can be inferred from the passage that those who believe in the validity of Semi-Strong EMH would agree with which of the following statements?
(A) Investors who have not consistently gained excess returns should improve their stock selection and timing.
(B) Analysis of historical price data and new market information is the best strategy for consistently gaining excess returns.
(C) In the absence of new information released to the public, stock prices will not adjust substantially immediately following an initial change.
(D) Algorithms that calculate arbitrage opportunities could be effective because the market value of a stock tends toward the intrinsic value of that stock.
(E) Fundamental analysis is likely to yield excess returns on a consistent basis.


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Q 10

In the following question the word given at the top of the question is used in

four different ways. Choose the sentence in which the use of the word is

INAPPROPRIATE.

BREAK

1) For days, she was trying to break the vehicle.

2) A company cannot break its customers’ privacy.

3) The detective took a long time to break the case.

4) My friend just seems to get all the breaks in life.


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VT 60 - RC

VARCTEST 60 - READING COMPREHENSION

Language in humans has evolved culturally rather than genetically, according to a study by the University
College London and US researchers. By modeling the ways in which genes for language might have evolved
alongside language itself, the study showed that genetic adaptation to language would be highly unlikely, as
cultural conventions change much more rapidly than genes. Thus, the biological machinery upon which
human language is built appears to predate the emergence of language. According to a phenomenon known
as the Baldwin effect, characteristics that are learned or developed over a lifespan may become gradually
encoded in the genome over many generations, because organisms with a stronger predisposition to acquire
a trait have a selective advantage. Over generations, the amount of environmental exposure required to develop
the trait decreases, and eventually no environmental exposure may be needed - the trait is genetically encoded.
An example of the Baldwin effect is the development of calluses on the keels and sterna of ostriches. The
calluses may initially have developed in response to abrasion where the keel and sterna touch the ground
during sitting. Natural selection then favored individuals that could develop calluses more rapidly, until callus
development became triggered within the embryo and could occur without environmental stimulation. The
PNAS paper explored circumstances under which a similar evolutionary mechanism could genetically assimilateproperties of language - a theory that has been widely favoured by those arguing for the existence of ‘language
genes’. The study modeled ways in which genes encoding language-specific properties could have coevolved
with language itself. The key finding was that genes for language could have coevolved only in a highly
stable linguistic environment; a rapidly changing linguistic environment would not provide a stable target for
natural selection. Thus, a biological endowment could not coevolve with properties of language that began as
learned cultural conventions, because cultural conventions change much more rapidly than genes.
The authors conclude that it is unlikely that humans possess a genetic ‘language module’ which has evolved
by natural selection. The genetic basis of human language appears to primarily predate the emergence of
language.
The conclusion is reinforced by the observation that had such adaptation occurred in the human lineage, these
processes would have operated independently on modern human populations as they spread throughout
Africa and the rest of the world over the last 100,000 years. If this were so, genetic populations should have
coevolved with their own language groups, leading to divergent and mutually incompatible language modules.
Linguists have found no evidence of this, however; for example, native Australasian populations have been
largely isolated for 50,000 years but learn European languages readily.
Professor Nick Chater, UCL Cognitive, Perceptual and Brain Sciences, says: “Language is uniquely human.
But does this uniqueness stem from biology or culture? This question is central to our understanding of what
it is to be human, and has fundamental implications for the relationship between genes and culture. Our paper
uncovers a paradox at the heart of theories about the evolutionary origin and genetic basis of human language
- although we appear to have a genetic predisposition towards language, human language has evolved far
more quickly than our genes could keep up with, suggesting that language is shaped and driven by culture
rather than biology.
“The linguistic environment is continually changing; indeed, linguistic change is vastly more rapid than
genetic change. For example, the entire Indo-European language group has diverged in less than 10,000
years. Our simulations show the evolutionary impact of such rapid linguistic change: genes cannot evolve fast
enough to keep up with this ‘moving target’.1 According to the passage which of the following precedes emergence of languages?
(1) The genetic adaptation to languages. (2) The changing cultural adaptations.
(3) The life mechanism. (4) Cultural conventions.
(5) Gene modeling.
2. Which of the following can be used to equal the Baldwin effect theory as used by the author?
(1) A cat’s affinity for fish. (2) A snake’s hissing.
(3) The petering of the tailbone in humans. (4) A woodpecker’s nest in the trees.
(5) The bat’s blindness.
3. According to the passage, the reason for the negation of the gene theory vis-à-vis language rests upon:
(1) The lack of a stable linguistic environment. (2) The lack of a natural selection.
(3) An unsuitable biological endowment. (4) The presence of cultural conventions.
(5) An inappropriate linguistic environment.
4.Which of the following best summarizes the passage?
(1) Language is determined by biology. (2) Language is motivated by culture.
(3) Grammar evolved through culture.
***

Skepticism quite properly forbids us to speculate beyond the content of our present experience and memory,
yet we find it entirely natural to believe much more than that. Hume held that these unjustifiable beliefs can be
explained by reference to custom or habit. That’s how we learn from experience. When I observe the constant
conjunction of events in my experience, I grow accustomed to associating them with each other.
Although many past cases of sunrise do not guarantee the future of nature, my experience of them does get
me used to the idea and produces in me an expectation that the sun will rise again tomorrow. I cannot prove
that it will, but I feel that it must.
Remember that the association of ideas is a powerful natural process in which separate ideas come to be
joined together in the mind. Of course they can be associated with each other by rational means, as they are in
the relations of ideas that constitute mathematical knowledge. But even where this is possible, Hume argued,
reason is a slow and inefficient guide, while the habits acquired by much repetition can produce a powerful
conviction independently of reason. Although the truth of “9 × 12 = 108” can be established rationally in
principle, most of us actually learned it by reciting our multiplication tables. In fact, what we call relative
probability is, on Hume’s view, nothing more than a measure of the strength of conviction produced in us by
our experience of regularity.
Our beliefs in matters of fact, then, arise from sentiment or feeling rather than from reason. For Hume, imagination
and belief differ only in the degree of conviction with which their objects are anticipated. Although this
positive answer may seem disappointing, Hume maintained that custom or habit is the great guide of life and
the foundation of all natural science.
According to Hume, our belief that events are causally related is a custom or habit acquired by experience:
having observed the regularity with which events of particular sorts occur together, we form the association of
ideas that produces the habit of expecting the effect whenever we experience the cause. But something is
missing from this account: we also believe that the cause somehow produces the effect. Even if this belief is
unjustifiable, Hume must offer some explanation for the fact that we do hold it. His technique was to search
for the original impression from which our idea of the necessary connection between cause and effect is
copied. The idea does not arise from our objective experience of the events themselves. All we observe is that
events of the “cause” type occur nearby and shortly before events of the “effect” type, and that this recurs
with a regularity that can be described as a “constant conjunction.” Although this pattern of experience does
encourage the formation of our habit of expecting the effect to follow the cause, it includes no impression of
a necessary connection.
Nor do we acquire this impression (as Locke had supposed) from our own capacity for voluntary motion.
Here the objective element of constant conjunction is rarely experienced, since the actions of our minds and
bodies do not invariably submit to our voluntary control. And even if volition did always produce the intended
movement, Hume argued, that would yield no notion of the connection between them. So there is no impression
of causal power here, either.
Still, we do have the idea of a necessary connection, and it must come from somewhere. For a (non-justificatory)
explanation, Hume refers us back to the formation of a custom or habit. Our (non-rational) expectation that
the effect will follow the cause is accompanied by a strong feeling of conviction, and it is the impression of
this feeling that is copied by our concept of a necessary connection between cause and effect. The force of
causal necessity is just the strength of our sentiment in anticipating efficacious outcomes.

4. According to Hume, the linking of an effect to a cause is based on all of the following except
(1) Our rational thinking. (2) Our expectation.
(3) Our feeling of conviction. (4) The initial impression that we carry
(5) Our sentiment.
5 What is the primary purpose of the passage?
(1) To highlight Hume’s theory of the predominance of custom or habit over reason in shaping beliefs
and ideas
(2) To demonstrate the preponderance of belief and reason over sentiments and superstitions
(3) To show the role of the constant conjunction in the formation of ideas about cause and effect
relations
(4) To discuss Hume’s theory regarding objective and subjective experience
(5) To differentiate between the role played by custom and habits in beliefs and imagination
6. Hume would agree with which of the following statements ?
(1) Association of ideas produces habit.
(2) Ideas cannot be associated by rational means.
(3) The self is immaterial in nature.
(4) Expectation of something leads to its experience.
(5) A cause cannot produce an effect.
7 The passage is most probably an extract from:
(1) A treatise on modern sociology
(2) A personal view on the formation of beliefs and ideas
(3) A novel from the Victorian period
(4) A book on the history of philosophy
(5) A work on existentialism

*****

Look around you. On the train platform, at the bus stop, in the car pool lane: these days someone there is
probably faking it, maintaining a job routine without having a job to go to. The Wall Street type in suspenders,
with his bulging briefcase; the woman in pearls, thumbing her BlackBerry; the builder in his work boots and
tool belt - they could all be headed for the same coffee shop, or bar, for the day.
“I have a new client, a laid-off lawyer, who’s commuting in every day - to his Starbucks,” said Robert C.
Chope, a professor of counseling at San Francisco State University and president of the employment division
of the American Counseling Association. “He gets dressed up, meets with colleagues, networks; he calls it his
Western White House. I have encouraged him to keep his routine.”
The fine art of keeping up appearances may seem shallow and deceitful, the very embodiment of denial. But
many psychologists beg to differ.
To the extent that it sustains good habits and reflects personal pride, they say, this kind of play-acting can be
an extremely effective social strategy, especially in uncertain times.
“If showing pride in these kinds of situations was always maladaptive, then why would people do it so often?”
said David DeSteno, a psychologist at Northeastern University in Boston. “But people do, of course, and we
are finding that pride is centrally important not just for surviving physical danger but for thriving in difficult
social circumstances, in ways that are not at all obvious.”
For most of its existence, the field of psychology ignored pride as a fundamental social emotion. It was
thought to be too marginal, too individually variable, compared with basic visceral expressions of fear, disgust,
sadness or joy. Moreover, it can mean different things in different cultures.

But recent research by Jessica L. Tracy of the University of British Columbia and Richard W. Robins of the
University of California, Davis, has shown that the expressions associated with pride in Western society -
most commonly a slight smile and head tilt, with hands on the hips or raised high - are nearly identical across
cultures. Children first experience pride about age 2 ½, studies suggest, and recognize it by age 4.
It’s not a simple matter of imitation, either. In a 2008 study, Dr. Tracy and David Matsumoto, a psychologist
at San Francisco State, analyzed spontaneous responses to winning or losing a judo match during the 2004
Olympic and Paralympic games. They found that expressions of pride after a victory were similar for athletes
from 37 nations, including for 53 blind competitors, many of them blind from birth. “It’s a self-conscious
emotion, reflecting how you feel about yourself, and it has this important social component,” Dr. Tracy said.
“It’s the strongest status signal we know of among the emotions; stronger than a happy expression, contentment,
anything.”
8. The passage mainly aims to:
(1) Defend pride in people. (2) Include pride as a positive sign.
(3) Bolster myths about pride. (4) Signal the onset of new challenges.
(5) Undermine the depression.
9. Why, according to the passage, has psychology ignored pride as a fundamental social emotion?
(1) Because it was culturally irrelevant. (2) Because it was too trivial and inconsistent.
(3) Because it not a basic threat. (4) Because it caused unhappiness.
(5) Because it caused differences in people.

10. The lines, “It’s not a simple matter of imitation, either” in the last paragraph connotes which of the
following?
(1) Pride is innate in children. (2) Pride has an unnatural onset.
(3) Pride is the fallout of the imagination. (4) Pride is only found in adults.
(5) Pride hampers growth in children.
11. The passage refers to the blind competitors to mainly highlight which of the following?
(1) The spontaneity of the reaction. (2) The strongest status signal in emotions.
(3) The universality of competitions. (4) The desire to succeed.
(5) The increase in blind competitors.
12. A suitable title for the passage will be:
(1) Pride before everything. (2) Pride hath a fall.
(3) Pride the new emotion. (4) When pride is all you have left.
(5) An about turn.
13. The word “maladaptive” in the passage means:
(1) Unable to adapt. (2) Failure to adapt to social conditions.
(3) Lack of adjustment. (4) Bad behaviour.
(5) Lack of regulation of performance.

VT 59 - POT POURRI

1

A. The Vedic hymns are probably the earliest important religious documents of the human race.
B. Often the favours sought are of the nature of material blessings, such as long life, vigorous offspring,
cattle and horses, gold, etc.
C. The hymns of the Rig Veda, on the other hand, are often praises of various deities, who are frequently
mere personifications of the different powers of nature.
D. The prayers in these hymns are praises of the greatness and power, the mysterious nature, and the
exploits of these deities, as well as prayers for various favours.
E. The Atharva Veda contains among other things descriptions of charms for securing harmony and
influence in an assembly etc.
(a) ECDB (b) CEBD (c) DBCE (d) BDCE

2


We do not live in a/an _____________, ruled by experts who decide our social goals, but however imperfect, in a popular government that tries to advance the goals that ____________ establishes.
OPTIONS
1)
technocracy, society
2)
democracy, the majority
3)
oligarchy, the nation
4)
autocracy, the elite

3

A. The most important part of the Analytical Engine was undoubtedly the mechanical method of carrying
the tens.
B. The difficulty did not consist so much in the more or less complexity of the contrivance as in the
reduction of the time required affecting the carriage.
C. At last I came to the conclusion that I had exhausted the principle of successive carriage.
D. On this I laboured incessantly, each succeeding improvement advancing me a step or two.
E. Twenty or thirty different plans and modifications had been drawn.
(a) CBDE (b) BECD (c) DBEC (d) ECDB


4

The further [A] / farther [B] he pushed himself, the more disillusioned he grew.
For the crowds it was more of a historical [A] / historic [B] event; for their leader, it was just another
day.
The old man has a healthy distrust [A] / mistrust [B] for all new technology.
This film is based on a real [A] I true [B] story.
One suspects that the compliment [A] / complement [B] was backhanded.
(1) BABAB (2) ABBBA (3) BAABA (4) BBAAB (5) ABABA


5


Regrettably [A] / Regretfully [B] I have to decline your invitation.
I am drawn to the poetic, sensual [A] / sensuous [B] quality of her paintings.
He was besides [A] / beside [B] himself with rage when I told him what I had done.
After brushing against a stationary [A] / stationery [B] truck my car turned turtle.
As the water began to rise over [A] / above [B] the danger mark, the signs of an imminent flood
were clear.
(1) BAABA (2) BBBAB (3) AAABA (4) BBAAB (5) BABAB


6


#PC
Satire, always as sterile as it in shameful and as impotent as it is insolent, paid them that usual
homage which mediocrity pays to genius - doing, here as always, infinite harm to the public,
blinding them to what is beautiful, teaching them that irreverence which is the source of all vileness
and narrowness of life, but harming the artist not at all, rather confirming him in the perfect rightness
of his work and ambition.______________

(a) I call it our Renaissance because it is indeed a sort of new birth of the spirit of man.
(b) For to disagree with three- fourths of the British public on all points is one of the first elements of
sanity, one of the deepest consolations in all moments of spiritual doubt.
(c) Because this love of definite conception, this clearness of vision, this artistic sense of limit, is
the characteristic of all great work of art and poetry.
(d) ‘The heart contains passion but the imagination alone contains art,’ says Charles Baudelaire.

7

Identify the sentence(s) or part(s) of sentence(s) that is/are incorrect in terms of grammar and usage. Then, choose the
most appropriate option.
1. While central Tokyo has much to offer in terms of sightseeing, things only start to get more
interesting once you venture at the outside of the well-trodden paths of the city center.
2. Anyone keen to experience the natural beauty that Japan has to offer will realize that inner
Tokyo has very little in this regards.
3. The town of Nikko is located in Tochigi Prefecture and is renowned for its national park and
authentic hot springs.
4. Lavish shrines such as Toshugu also dot the landscape, as well as the mausoleum of the 16thcentury
shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu.
(a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3 (c) 1, 3 and 4 (d) 2 and 4


The immigration of Europeans and the importation of West African slaves to America resulted in a convergence of cultures, traditions, and art forms, including music. Jazz, first played in New Orleans in the early 1900s, borrowed heavily from the European musical scale and harmonic system. Jazz ensembles were built predominantly on European instruments, such as the trumpet, trombone, saxophone, and piano. The West African influence on jazz was manifested primarily in its performance. Scatting, a technique used by jazz vocalists to mimic the sounds of instruments, had its origin in West African vocal traditions. The emphasis on improvisation in jazz music, in addition to group participation, also came from West African music.

Some musicologists argue that jazz is a purely American form of music. Others, however, contend that jazz is rooted in a history similar to that of America itself, a history of confluence. Proponents of the argument that jazz is purely American often point to its genesis in New Orleans as evidence for this perspective. The irony, however, is that the essence of America lies in the plurality of its roots. To deny the rich and complex history of jazz, and the true origins of the art form, is to deny the very aspects of the art form that make it undeniably American.

The author of the passage would most likely agree with which of the following statements?

8 a. Although American football was derived from the English sports of soccer and rugby, it should be called a purely American sport because it was first played in America.
b. Because American football was derived from the English sports of soccer and rugby, it should not be called an American sport.
c. Most sports scholars deny the English origins of American football.
d. What makes American football American is its derivation from the English sports of soccer and rugby.
e. Because the essence of America lies in the plurality of its roots, American football should not be called an American sport.

Which of the following elements of jazz most likely has its origin in West African musical traditions?

9 a. the emphasis on a tonal harmonic structure
b. the use of an instrument to mimic a vocalist’s sound
c. the use of traditional African instruments
d. the use of many instruments in a jazz ensemble
e. an impromptu call-and-response between two instruments in the ensemble

The primary purpose of the passage is to

10 a. demonstrate how new art forms evolve
b. describe a medium’s diverse cultural genesis and a relevant paradox
c. argue that a new art form has its origins in the geographic location where it developed
d. describe the impact of African culture on an American art form
e. claim that one culture had a greater impact than another on the evolution of a new art form

VT 58 - RC

http://www.litesee.com/verbal/verbal/reading/1-6/reading-passage1.htm

http://www.litesee.com/verbal/verbal/reading/1-6/reading-passage2.htm

http://www.litesee.com/verbal/verbal/reading/1-6/reading-passage3.htm

http://www.litesee.com/verbal/verbal/reading/1-6/reading-passage4.htm

http://www.litesee.com/verbal/verbal/reading/1-6/reading-passage5.htm

http://www.litesee.com/verbal/verbal/reading/1-6/reading-passage6.htm

VT 57 - SENTENCE CORRECTION

1 Unlike computer skills or other technical skills, there is a disinclination on the part of many people to recognize the degree to which their analytical skills are weak.


(A) Unlike computer skills or other technical skills, there is a disinclination on the part of many people to
recognize the degree to which their analytical skills are weak.
(B) Unlike computer skills or other technical skills, which they admit they lack, many people are disinclined
to recognize that their analytical skills are weak.
(C) Unlike computer skills or other technical skills, analytical skills bring out a disinclination in many people
to recognize that they are weak to a degree.
(D) Many people, willing to admit that they lack computer skills or other technical skills, are disinclined to
recognize that their analytical skills are weak.
(E) Many people have a disinclination to recognize the weakness of their analytical skills while willing to
admit their lack of computer skills or other technical skills.

2. Some buildings that were destroyed and heavily damaged in the earthquake last year were constructed in violation of the city's building code
.
(A) Some buildings that were destroyed and heavily damaged in the earthquake last year were
(B) Some buildings that were destroyed or heavily damaged in the earthquake last year had been
(C) Some buildings that the earthquake destroyed and heavily damaged last year have been
(D) Last year the earthquake destroyed or heavily damaged some buildings that have been
(E) Last year some of the buildings that were destroyed or heavily damaged in the earthquake had been

3. From the earliest days of the tribe, kinship determined the way in which the Ojibwa society organized its
labor, provided access to its resources, and defined rights and obligations involved in the distribution and
consumption of those resources.

(A) and defined rights and obligations involved in the distribution and consumption of those resources
(B) defining rights and obligations involved in their distribution and consumption
(C) and defined rights and obligations as they were involved in its distribution and consumption
(D) whose rights and obligations were defined in their distribution and consumption
(E) the distribution and consumption of them defined by rights and obligations


4. A report by the American Academy for the Advancement of Science has concluded that much of the
currently uncontrolled dioxins to which North Americans are exposed comes from the incineration of
wastes.
(A) much of the currently uncontrolled dioxins to which North Americans are exposed comes
(B) much of the currently uncontrolled dioxins that North Americans are exposed to come
(C) much of the dioxins that are currently uncontrolled and that North Americans are exposed to comes
(D) many of the dioxins that are currently uncontrolled and North Americans are exposed to come
(E) many of the currently uncontrolled dioxins to which North Americans are exposed come


5. In June of 1987, The Bridge of Trinquetaille, Vincent van Gogh's view of an iron bridge over the Rhone sold
for $20.2 million and it was the second highest price ever paid for a painting at auction.
(A) Rhone sold for $20.2 million and it was
(B) Rhone, which sold for $20.2 million, was
(C) Rhone, was sold for $20.2 million,
(D) Rhone was sold for $20.2 million, being
(E) Rhone, sold for $20.2 million, and was


36. Bufo marinus toads, fierce predators that will eat frogs, lizards, and even small birds, are native to South
America but were introduced into Florida during the 1930's in an attempt to control pests in the state's vast
sugarcane fields.
(A) are native to South America but were introduced into Florida during the 1930's in an attempt to control
(B) are native in South America but were introduced into Florida during the 1930's as attempts to control
(C) are natives of South America but were introduced into Florida during the 1930's in an attempt at
controlling
(D) had been native to South America but were introduced to Florida during the 1930's as an attempt at
controlling
(E) had been natives of South America but were introduced to Florida during the 1930's as attempts at
controlling

7. While some academicians believe that business ethics should be integrated into every business course,
others say that students will take ethics seriously only if it would be taught as a separately required course.
(A) only if it would be taught as a separately required course
(B) only if it is taught as a separate, required course
(C) if it is taught only as a course required separately
(D) if it was taught only as a separate and required course
(E) if it would only be taught as a required course, separately

8. Scientists have observed large concentrations of
heavy-metal deposits in the upper twenty centimeters of Baltic Sea sediments, which are consistent with the
growth of industrial activity there
.
(A) Baltic Sea sediments, which are consistent with the growth of industrial activity there
(B) Baltic Sea sediments, where the growth of industrial activity is consistent with these findings
(C) Baltic Sea sediments, findings consistent with its growth of industrial activity
(D) sediments from the Baltic Sea, findings consistent with the growth of industrial activity in the area
(E) sediments from the Baltic Sea, consistent with the growth of industrial activity there


9. For members of the seventeenth-century Ashanti nation in Africa, animal-hide shields with wooden frames
were essential items of military equipment, a method to protect warriors against enemy arrows and spears.
(A) a method to protect
(B) as a method protecting
(C) protecting
(D) as a protection of
(E) to protect

40. In metalwork one advantage of adhesive-bonding over spot-welding is that the contact, and hence the
bonding, is effected continuously over a broad surface instead of a series of regularly spaced points with no
bonding in between.
(A) instead of
(B) as opposed to
(C) in contrast with
(D) rather than at
(E) as against being at

VT 56 - MIXED BAG

For any given kind of judgment, two issues of justification might
arise, one concerning the type of judgment,

the other an instance of it. First, there is the question of
establishing the credentials of that kind of judgement to

being a bona fide judgement, a judgement with a well-founded claim to
intersubjective validity, instances of

which can have a genuine truth-value. Secondly, there is the question
of how, if at all, it is possible to establish,

perhaps conclusively, that a particular instance of that kind of
judgement is correct (and in particular, what the

canonical or most fundamental method of doing this is—for there are
usually many methods of establishing the

truth of a judgement). So for aesthetic judgements, or aesthetic
judgements of a particular kind, there is, first, the

issue of establishing the legitimacy of the claim to intersubjective
validity, if such a claim is built into them,

and, second, the issue of showing that, of the opposed aesthetic
judgements that might be made about a certain

thing, this judgement is right, that one wrong.

In the Critique of Aesthetic Judgement Kant‘s leading idea is that an
aesthetic judgement about an item is a

judgement the  ̳determining ground‘ of which cannot be other than the
subject‘s pleasure or displeasure in

experiencing the item. In other words, the judgement must be based on
the subject‘s hedonic reaction to the

item. This criterion is intended to apply to kinds of judgement: a
kind or type of judgement is aesthetic if and

only if any instance of that kind must be based on the pleasure or
must be based on the displeasure felt by the

subject in experiencing the object judged. And by judgement Kant means
more than mere belief (which might

be a belief based on another‘s opinion, for instance): he means a
judgement about an item that the subject is

currently aware of, the judgement being based solely on the nature of
the item as it is presented to the subject in

perception or some other form of awareness. He is concerned,
therefore, only with judgements that might be

said to ascribe a positive or negative aesthetic value to an item, and
his conception of an aesthetic judgement

implies that an aesthetic judgement concerns an item‘s capacity,
disposition, or suitability to yield pleasure of

the kind that grounds the judgement, either just to the subject or to
some class of people who satisfy some

requirement of knowledge, experience, morality or whatever. I take his
conception of an aesthetic judgement to

be tantamount to the idea that to experience an item as possessing a
certain (value-laden) aesthetic property—to

 ̳perceive‘ that property in the item—the perception of the relevant
non-aesthetic property of the item—a

sensory quality, the item‘s perceptual structure, its sheer immensity,
or whatever—must be characterized by the

hedonic response integral to the concept of that aesthetic property.
This might be objected to on the ground that

Kant denies that beauty is a property of an object (and explains why
it might seem as if this is what it must be).

But what his denial comes to is that beauty is not a property of the
appearance of an item, considered in itself,

rather than with respect to the item‘s suitability to yield
disinterested pleasure in the contemplation of its

perceptual form. A judgement that predicates beauty of an item does
not characterize the intrinsic nature of the

item (the item‘s form) in any way at all. Rather, it attributes to the
item‘s form a relation in which this is alleged

to stand to human beings. In other words, for Kant beauty is a certain
kind of relational property of an item,

 ̳beauty‘ being construed as an affective term, comparable in this
respect to  ̳exciting‘,  ̳thrilling‘,  ̳interesting‘,

 ̳boring‘,  ̳funny‘,  ̳disgusting‘, or  ̳saddening‘, the affect of
beauty being pleasure. Accordingly, given Kant‘s

understanding of a pure judgement of taste (a judgement of free
beauty), to experience an item as being

beautiful the contemplation of the item‘s form must be experienced
with disinterested pleasure in the perception

of that form (independently of how the item that possesses that form
is conceptualized), and such a judgement

alleges the suitability of an object to yield disinterested pleasure
in the object‘s form to any human being with

normal perceptual capacities—to any human being who is capable of
perceiving that form. Hence, establishing

the credentials of judgements of free beauty to being bona fide
judgements is a matter of showing how a

judgement based on a subject‘s own disinterested pleasure in
something‘s form can rightly lay claim to

universal validity—in Kant‘s language, it is to effect a deduction of
such judgements—and establishing that a

particular judgement of this kind is correct is a matter of
establishing the object‘s suitability to yield this

pleasure to all relevant subjects.

29. From, ―a kind or type of judgement is aesthetic if and only if any
instance of that kind must be based on the

pleasure or must be based on the displeasure felt by the subject in
experiencing the object judged‖ we can

predict that

(1) Judgement – aesthetic = pleasure and displeasure

(2) Judgement – not aesthetic = pleasure

(3) Judgement – aesthetic = pleasure or displeasure

(4) Judgement – not aesthetic = displeasure

30. By, ―by judgement Kant means more than mere belief‖, the author means

(1) Judgement is superior to belief

(2) Judgement is inferior to belief

(3) One can have a belief because of someone else‘s opinion whereas
judgement involves the subject

entertaining a belief and the object of belief directly

(4) One can have a judgement because of someone else‘s opinion whereas
belief involves the subject

entertaining a belief and the object of belief directly

31. According to the passage the word ―affective‖ (2nd half, 2nd
paragraph) is closest in meaning to

(1) Emotional (2) Pleasurable (3) Exciting (4) Effective

32. According to the passage the author is most likely to agree with

(1) Beauty is a matter of personal opinion and tastes

(2) Judgement is bona fide if it is disinterested and induces similar
reaction from other relevant people

(3) Beauty is inherent in the object of perception

(4) Cannot be determined

33. The most suitable title for the passage could be

(1) Aesthetic Judgements

(2) Aesthetic Principles

(3) Aesthetic Properties

(4) Kant and Aesthetic Judgements

Directions for questions 34 to 38: In each of the questions, a word
has been used in sentences in five different

ways. Choose the option corresponding to the sentence in which the
usage of the word is incorrect or

inappropriate.

34. Play

(1) The kids were tired but wanted to continue with the play.

(2) The pitcher was replaced in the fourth inning of play.

(3) We admired his fine play throughout the game.

(4) It was a fountain with a leaping play of water.

35. Stick

(1) The threat of unemployment was the stick that kept the workers
toiling overtime.

(2) Having lived in a large city all his life, he found it hard to
adjust to the sticks.

(3) The old man used his walking stick to shoo away the naughty children.

(4) I will stick to you in sickness and health.

36. Drink

(1) It is a wine that will drink deliciously for many years.

(2) Drink in the liquid and you shall not regret.

(3) He drank in the beauty of the scene.

(4) Drink was his downfall.

37. Pull

(1) He pulled a long face when I reprimanded him.

(2) Do you know what to do when someone pulls a knife on you?

(3) He pulled away the table to make more room for his long legs.

(4) He took a long, thoughtful pull on his pipe.

38. Expand

(1) He hopes to expand his company.

(2) A bird expands its wings.

(3) It will take a lot of time to expand this short story into a novel.

(4) Expand your arms and feel the air


31. According to the passage the word ―affective‖ (2nd half, 2nd
paragraph) is closest in meaning to

(1) Emotional (2) Pleasurable (3) Exciting (4) Effective

32. According to the passage the author is most likely to agree with

(1) Beauty is a matter of personal opinion and tastes

(2) Judgement is bona fide if it is disinterested and induces similar
reaction from other relevant people

(3) Beauty is inherent in the object of perception

(4) Cannot be determined

33. The most suitable title for the passage could be

(1) Aesthetic Judgements

(2) Aesthetic Principles

(3) Aesthetic Properties

(4) Kant and Aesthetic Judgements

Directions for questions 34 to 38: In each of the questions, a word
has been used in sentences in five different

ways. Choose the option corresponding to the sentence in which the
usage of the word is incorrect or

inappropriate.

34. Play

(1) The kids were tired but wanted to continue with the play.

(2) The pitcher was replaced in the fourth inning of play.

(3) We admired his fine play throughout the game.

(4) It was a fountain with a leaping play of water.

35. Stick

(1) The threat of unemployment was the stick that kept the workers
toiling overtime.

(2) Having lived in a large city all his life, he found it hard to
adjust to the sticks.

(3) The old man used his walking stick to shoo away the naughty children.

(4) I will stick to you in sickness and health.

36. Drink

(1) It is a wine that will drink deliciously for many years.

(2) Drink in the liquid and you shall not regret.

(3) He drank in the beauty of the scene.

(4) Drink was his downfall.

37. Pull

(1) He pulled a long face when I reprimanded him.

(2) Do you know what to do when someone pulls a knife on you?

(3) He pulled away the table to make more room for his long legs.

(4) He took a long, thoughtful pull on his pipe.

38. Expand

(1) He hopes to expand his company.

(2) A bird expands its wings.

(3) It will take a lot of time to expand this short story into a novel.

(4) Expand your arms and feel the air

Directions for questions 44 to 48: Each of the following questions has
a paragraph from which the last

sentence has been deleted. From the given options, choose the one that
completes the paragraph in the most

appropriate way

44. We have to recognise that identity cards have a chequered past.
They can be and are used for important but

innocuous purposes like determining whether a person should be behind
the wheels of a car. They have also

however been used for dastardly ends. Identity cards were what enabled
Nazi Germany to single out the Jews.

Information that empowers an individual does also empower a state.

(1) Ultimately therefore what redeems a card is the purpose for which
the state uses it.

(2) Ultimately therefore what redeems a card is the vision and purpose
for which it has been designed.

(3) Ultimately therefore what redeems a card is the vision and purpose
for which it will be used.

(4) Ultimately therefore what redeems a card is keeping the end result in mind.

45. Congress is concerned that domestic limits on carbon emissions
would put American companies at a

competitive disadvantage with rivals in countries with no such caps.
But that is not the only problem. In the

absence of a system of import duties related to carbon, industries
with high emissions might relocate to

nonsignatory countries to save money.

(1) Or they might fail.

(2) Or they might fail, unable to compete with foreigners.

(3) Or they might fail, unable to compete with dirtier and cheaper
foreign rivals.

(4) Or they might fail, unable to get out of the labyrinth.

46. Before the ―Origin,‖ similarities and differences between species
were mere curiosities; questions as to why

a certain plant is succulent like a cactus or deciduous like a maple
could be answered only, ―Because.‖ Biology

itself was nothing more than a vast exercise in catalogue and
description. After the ―Origin,‖ all organisms

became connected, part of the same, profoundly ancient, family tree.
Similarities and differences became

comprehensible and explicable.

(1) In short, Darwin gave us a framework for asking questions about
the natural world, and about ourselves.

(2) Darwin was not right about everything. How could he have been?

(3) So today‘s view of evolution is much more nuanced than Darwin‘s.

(4) The ―Origin,‖ of course, is what Darwin is best known for.

47. Hopefully more and more on the Left will learn these fundamental
lessons. But as important as this debate

is, explaining why elite planning, markets, and local self-sufficiency
are NOT the answers we seek is not my

purpose here. When the Left does learn these lessons - and I do
believe we are slowly learning what will not

work - this will only equip us to win the last war, not the war that
lies ahead. When we finally realize that elite

planning, market socialism, and local self-sufficiency are all
incapable of achieving the historic goals of

socialism, what will be left? The answer is "democratic planning."

(1) It is far from obvious how comprehensive democratic planning
should be organized.

(2) But, besides a catch phrase and a prayer, democratic planning is nonsense.

(3) But, besides a catch phrase and a prayer, what is market socialism?

(4) But, besides a catch phrase and a prayer, what is democratic planning?

Directions for questions 44 to 48: Each of the following questions has
a paragraph from which the last

sentence has been deleted. From the given options, choose the one that
completes the paragraph in the most

appropriate way

44. We have to recognise that identity cards have a chequered past.
They can be and are used for important but

innocuous purposes like determining whether a person should be behind
the wheels of a car. They have also

however been used for dastardly ends. Identity cards were what enabled
Nazi Germany to single out the Jews.

Information that empowers an individual does also empower a state.

(1) Ultimately therefore what redeems a card is the purpose for which
the state uses it.

(2) Ultimately therefore what redeems a card is the vision and purpose
for which it has been designed.

(3) Ultimately therefore what redeems a card is the vision and purpose
for which it will be used.

(4) Ultimately therefore what redeems a card is keeping the end result in mind.

45. Congress is concerned that domestic limits on carbon emissions
would put American companies at a

competitive disadvantage with rivals in countries with no such caps.
But that is not the only problem. In the

absence of a system of import duties related to carbon, industries
with high emissions might relocate to

nonsignatory countries to save money.

(1) Or they might fail.

(2) Or they might fail, unable to compete with foreigners.

(3) Or they might fail, unable to compete with dirtier and cheaper
foreign rivals.

(4) Or they might fail, unable to get out of the labyrinth.

46. Before the ―Origin,‖ similarities and differences between species
were mere curiosities; questions as to why

a certain plant is succulent like a cactus or deciduous like a maple
could be answered only, ―Because.‖ Biology

itself was nothing more than a vast exercise in catalogue and
description. After the ―Origin,‖ all organisms

became connected, part of the same, profoundly ancient, family tree.
Similarities and differences became

comprehensible and explicable.

(1) In short, Darwin gave us a framework for asking questions about
the natural world, and about ourselves.

(2) Darwin was not right about everything. How could he have been?

(3) So today‘s view of evolution is much more nuanced than Darwin‘s.

(4) The ―Origin,‖ of course, is what Darwin is best known for.

47. Hopefully more and more on the Left will learn these fundamental
lessons. But as important as this debate

is, explaining why elite planning, markets, and local self-sufficiency
are NOT the answers we seek is not my

purpose here. When the Left does learn these lessons - and I do
believe we are slowly learning what will not

work - this will only equip us to win the last war, not the war that
lies ahead. When we finally realize that elite

planning, market socialism, and local self-sufficiency are all
incapable of achieving the historic goals of

socialism, what will be left? The answer is "democratic planning."

(1) It is far from obvious how comprehensive democratic planning
should be organized.

(2) But, besides a catch phrase and a prayer, democratic planning is nonsense.

(3) But, besides a catch phrase and a prayer, what is market socialism?

(4) But, besides a catch phrase and a prayer, what is democratic planning?

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