This article is part of the ‘CAT 2016 Sprint Preparation Series’. We will be posting questions from previous year CAT papers, forums, mock tests, and other entrances that are on par with the level of difficulty you can expect in CAT 2016. We will be posting the solutions and traps/things to look at while solving similar questions so that you are avoid making silly mistakes during the test.

VARC | Set 2

CAT 2016 Sprint Preparation Series

Reading Comprehension

Passage 1:

The understanding that the brain has areas of specialization has brought with it the tendency to teach in ways that reflect these specialized functions. For example, research concerning the specialized functions of the left and right hemispheres has led to left and right hemisphere teaching. Recent research suggests that such an approach neither reflects how the brain learns, nor how it functions once learning has occurred. To the contrary, in most ‘higher vertebrates’ brain systems interact together as a whole brain with the external world. Learning is about making connections within the brain and between the brain and the outside world.

What does this mean? Until recently, the idea that the neural basis for learning resided in connections between neurons remained a speculation. Now, there is direct evidence that when learning occurs, neuro-chemical communication between neurons is facilitated, and less input is required to activate established connections over time. This evidence also indicates that learning creates connections between not only adjacent neurons but also between distant neurons, and that connections are made from simple circuits to complex ones and from complex circuits to simple ones.

As connections are formed among adjacent neurons to form circuits, connections also begin to form with neurons in other regions of the brain that are associated with visual, tactile, and even olfactory information related to the sound of the word. Meaning is attributed to ‘sounds of words’ because of these connections. Some of the brain sites for these other neurons are far from the neural circuits that correspond to the component sounds of the words; they include sites in other areas of the left hemisphere and even sites in the right hemisphere. The whole complex of interconnected neurons that are activated by the word is called a neural network.

In early stages of learning, neural circuits are activated piecemeal, incompletely, and weakly. It is like getting a glimpse of a partially exposed and blurry picture. With more experience, practice, and exposure, the picture becomes clearer and more detailed. As the exposure is repeated, less input is needed to activate the entire network. With time, activation and recognition become relatively automatic, and the learner can direct her attention to other parts of the task. This also explains why learning takes time. Time is needed to establish new neural networks and connections between networks. This suggests that the neural mechanism for learning is essentially the same as the products of learning. Learning is a process that establishes new connections among networks. The newly acquired skills or knowledge are nothing but formation of neural circuits and networks.

Q.1 It can be inferred that, for a nursery student, learning will …

A. comprise piecemeal ideas and disconnected concepts.

B. be a pleasant experience due to the formation of improved connections among neurons.

C. lead to complex behaviour due to formation of new connections among neurons.

D. be better if discrete subjects are taught rather than a mix of subjects.

E. be a happy experience.

Q.2. Read the following statements and answer the question that follows.

I. The two hemispheres of the brain are responsible for learning autonomously.

II. Simultaneous activation of circuits can take place in different areas of the brain.

III. There are specific regions of the brain associated with sight, touch and smell.

IV. The brain receives inputs from multiple external sources.

V. Learning is not the result of connections between neurons.

Which of the above statements are consistent with ideas expressed in the passage?

A. I, V

B. II, III

C. III, V

D. IV, V

E. I, II, III

 

Q.3. Which of the following proverbs best describes the passage?

A. When student is ready, the master appears.

B. Child is the father of the man.

C. All’s well that ends well.

D. You can’t teach old dog new tricks.

E. Many a mickle makes a muckle.

Q.4. A father and son aged 60 and 25 respectively, have been learning paragliding for quite some time. Based on the passage above, which of the following would be true?

A. The son would always learn more.

B. The father might learn more, if both of them started at the same time.

C. The son would learn more, if both of them started at the same time.

D. If both of them have been learning since the age of 15, the son would learn more.

E. Both of them would always progress equally.

 

Passage 2:

Certain variants of key behavioural genes, “risk allele” make people more vulnerable to certain mood, psychiatric, or personality disorders. An allele is any of the variants of a gene that takes more than one form. A risk allele, then, is simply a gene variant that increases your likelihood of developing a problem.

Researchers have identified a dozen-odd gene variants that can increase a person’s susceptibility to depression, anxiety, and antisocial, sociopathic, or violent behaviours, and other problems—if, and only if, the person carrying the variant suffers a traumatic or stressful childhood or faces particularly trying experiences later in life. This hypothesis, often called the “stress diathesis” or “genetic vulnerability” model, has come to saturate psychiatry and behavioural science.

Recently, however, an alternate hypothesis has emerged from this one and is turning it inside out. This new model suggests that it’s a mistake to understand these “risk” genes only as liabilities. According to this new thinking, these ‘bad genes’ can create dysfunction in unfavourable contexts—but they can also enhance function in favourable contexts. The genetic sensitivities to negative experience that the vulnerability hypothesis has identified, it follows, are just the downside of a bigger phenomenon: a heightened genetic sensitivity to all experience.

This hypothesis has been anticipated by Swedish folk wisdom which has long spoken of “dandelion” children. These dandelion children—equivalent to our “normal” or “healthy” children, with “resilient” genes—do pretty well almost anywhere, whether raised in the equivalent of a sidewalk crack or a well-tended garden. There are also “orchid” children, who will wilt if ignored or maltreated but bloom spectacularly with greenhouse care. According to this orchid hypothesis, risk becomes possibility; vulnerability becomes plasticity and responsiveness. Gene variants generally considered misfortunes can instead now be understood as highly leveraged evolutionary bets, with both high risks and high potential rewards.

In this view, having both dandelion and orchid kids greatly raises a family’s (and a species’) chance of succeeding, over time and in any given environment. The behavioural diversity provided by these two different types of temperament also supplies precisely what a smart, strong species needs if it is to spread across and dominate a changing world. The many dandelions in a population provide an underlying stability. The less-numerous orchids, meanwhile, may falter in some environments but can excel in those that suit them. And even when they lead troubled early lives, some of the resulting heightened responses to adversity that can be problematic in everyday life— increased novelty-seeking, restlessness of attention, elevated risk-taking, or aggression—can prove advantageous in certain challenging situations: wars, social strife of many kinds, and migrations to new environments. Together, the steady dandelions and the mercurial orchids offer an adaptive flexibility that neither can provide alone. Together, they open a path to otherwise unreachable individual and collective achievements.

Q.5. The passage suggests ‘orchids’:

A. are insufficient in number.

B. are limited to greenhouses.

C. end up weaker as compared to dandelions.

D. thrive in anaesthetised conditions.

E. are always too delicate to survive.

Q.6. Which of the following statements correctly echoes the author’s view?

A. Persons carrying risk allele end up being self-destructive and antisocial.

B. Orchids possess humankind’s phenomenal adaptability and evolutionary success.

C. With a bad environment and poor parenting, all children will have a normal life.

D. Children born with genetic vulnerability need not necessarily be sociopaths.

E. Genes not only makes you sensitive to disorders; but are also responsible for failures of societies.

Q.7. The word ‘diathesis’ means:

A. susceptible to disease

B. two-pronged hypothesis

C. connected with two kidneys

D. missing parts of the body

E. living in two different environments

Q.8. Mr. Good and Mr. Evil were batch-mates during the college. Five years after graduating, Mr. Evil was put behind bars for financial fraud while Mr. Good was running a successful NGO, working for orphans. Mr. Good was raised in a protective environment while Mr. Evil was a self-made man. Based on the above information, which of the following statements is definitely correct?

A. It can be concluded that Mr. Evil is a ‘dandelion’, but nothing can be concluded about Mr. Good.

B. It can be concluded that Mr. Evil is an ‘orchid’, but nothing can be concluded about Mr. Good.

C. It can be concluded that Mr. Good is a ‘dandelion’, but nothing can be concluded about Mr. Evil.

D. It can be concluded that both Mr. Good and Mr. Evil are ‘orchid’.

E. It is not possible to conclude about ‘children typology’ of the two batch mates.

 

Verbal Ability

Q.1. It is a curious historical fact that modern quantum mechanics began with two quite different mathematical formulations: the differential equation of Schroedinger, and the matrix algebra of Heisenberg. The two, apparently dissimilar, approaches were proved to be mathematically equivalent.

Which of the following sentences would most meaningfully follow the above paragraph?

1. The two approaches did not start with the same mathematical formulations.
2. These two points of view were destined to complement one another and were ultimately synthesized in Dirac’s transformation theory.
3. A third mathematical formulation given by Feynman combines the matrix algebra of Heisenberg and Integral calculus of Leibniz.
4. Quantum mechanics evolved in the twentieth century and came very close to particle physics, especially after the CERN experiments in Switzerland.
5. Earlier, the two formulations were mathematically similar.

 

Q.2. Ranu is an ordinary sportsperson. In the last two university sprint events, her performances in the heats were pathetic.

Which of the followings, if true, weakens the above argument the most?

1. She had participated in the college swimming competition and finished last.
2. She is a national shot-put champion.
3. The last two times, Ranu had to compete with national level runners. Had she been in other heats, she would have reached quarterfinals.
4. Ranu was the only player who represented her college in the sprint events.
5. In the college sprint events, Ranu always won.

 

Q.3. The question below consists of four jumbled sentences, which need to be arranged in logical sequence. Choose the option which has the correct logical sequence.

1. Ironically, the Iranian television programmers had mainly chosen that film because it lacks female characters.
2. A few years ago some members of the Iranian Parliament set up an investigative committee to examine the content of national television.
3. The cartoon version of Around the World in Eighty Days was also castigated, because the main character – a lion – was British and the film ended in that bastion of imperialism, London.
4. The committee issued a lengthy report in which it condemned the showing of Billy Budd, because it claimed, the story promoted homosexuality.

 

Q.4. Paragraph Summary

Some decisions will be fairly obvious – “no-brainers.” Your bank account is low, but you have a two-week vacation coming up and you want to get away to some place warm to relax with your family. Will you accept your in-laws’ offer of free use of their Florida beachfront condo? Sure. You like your employer and feel ready to move forward in your career. Will you step in for your boss for three weeks while she attends a professional development course? Of course.

1. Some decisions are obvious under certain circumstances. You may, for example, readily accept a relative’s offer of free holiday accommodation. Or step in for your boss when she is away.
2. Some decisions are no-brainers. You need not think when making them. Examples are condo offers from in-laws and job offers from bosses when your bank account is low or boss is away.
3. Easy decisions are called “no-brainers” because they do not require any cerebral activity. Examples such as accepting free holiday accommodation abound in our lives.
4. Accepting an offer from in-laws when you are short on funds and want a holiday is a no-brainer. Another no-brainer is taking the boss’s job when she is away.

Q.5. Paragraph Summary

Although almost all climate scientists agree that the Earth is gradually warming, they have long been of two minds about the process of rapid climate shifts within larger periods of change. Some have speculated that the process works like a giant oven or freezer, warming or cooling the whole planet at the same time. Others think that shifts occur on opposing schedules in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, like exaggerated seasons. Recent research in Germany examining climate patterns in the Southern Hemisphere at the end of the last Ice Age strengthens the idea that warming and cooling occurs at alternate times in the two hemispheres. A more definitive answer to this debate will allow scientists to better predict when and how quickly the next climate shift will happen.

(1) Scientists have been unsure whether rapid shifts in the Earth’s climate happen all at once or on opposing schedules in different hemispheres; research will help find a definitive answer and better predict climate shifts in future.

(2) Scientists have been unsure whether rapid shifts in the Earth’s climate happen all at once or on opposing schedules in different hemispheres; finding a definitive answer will help them better predict climate shifts in future.

(3) Research in Germany will help scientists find a definitive answer about warming and cooling of the Earth and predict climate shifts in the future in a better manner.

(4) More research rather than debates on warming or cooling of the Earth will help scientists in Germany predict climate changes better in future.

Q.6. Paragraph Completion

Nevertheless, photographs still retain some of the magical allure that the earliest daguerreotypes inspired. As objects, our photographs have changed; they have become physically flimsier as they have become more technologically sophisticated. Daguerre produced pictures on copper plates; today many of our photographs never become tangible things, but instead remain filed away on computers and cameras, part of the digital ether that envelops the modern world. At the same time, our patience for the creation of images has also eroded. Children today are used to being tracked from birth by digital cameras and video recorders and they expect to see the results of their poses and performances instantly. The space between life as it is being lived and life as it is being displayed shrinks to a mere second. ____

1. Yet, despite these technical developments, photographs still remain powerful because they are reminders of the people and things we care about.
2. Images, after all, are surrogates carried into battle by a soldier or by a traveller on holiday.
3. Photographs, be they digital or traditional, exist to remind us of the absent, the beloved, and the dead.
4. In the new era of the digital image, the images also have a greater potential for fostering falsehood and trickery, perpetuating fictions that seem so real we cannot tell the difference.
5. Anyway, human nature being what it is, little time has passed after photography’s invention became means of living life through images.

 

Q.7. Paragraph Completion

Relations between the factory and the dealer are distant and usually strained as the factory tries to force cars on the dealers to smooth out production. Relations between the dealer and the customer are equally strained because dealers continuously adjust prices – make deals – to adjust demand with supply while maximizing profits. This becomes a system marked by ‘a lack of long- term commitment’ on either side, which maximizes feelings of mistrust. In order to maximize their bargaining positions, everyone holds back information – the dealer about the product and the consumer about his true desires. _____

1. As a result, `deal making’ becomes rampant, without concern for customer satisfaction.
2. As a result, inefficiencies creep into the supply chain.
3. As a result, everyone treats the other as an adversary, rather than as an ally.
4. As a result, fundamental innovations are becoming scarce in the automobile industry.
5. As a result, everyone loses in the long run.

 

Q.8.Which of the followings is not a term of ‘disapproval’?

A. infantile B. charlatan C. imbecile D. childlike E. awful

 

Q.9. Read the four sentences given below:

i. He is the most ________ of the speakers to address us today.

ii. The belief in ______ justice is the essence of his talk.

iii. This hall would have been full but for the _______ rain.

iv. Many in the audience have achieved ______ in their respective fields.

Which of the following sequence of words would most appropriately fit the blanks?

1. i. Eminent, ii. Imminent, iii. Immanent, iv. Eminence
2. i. Immanent, ii. Imminent, iii. Imminence, iv. Eminence
3. i. Eminent, ii. Immanent, iii. Imminent, iv. Eminence
4. i. Eminent, ii. Immanent, iii. Imminent, iv. Imminence
5. i. Immanent, ii. Imminence, iii. Eminent, iv. Eminence

 

Q.10. Identify the correct sequence of words that aptly fit the blanks in the following passage.

It is ____ (i) ____ that the accused had____ (ii) ____ ____ (iii) ____ from all criminal activities by adopting the ____ (iv) ____ of a sanyasi. However, despite repeated requests from the counsel for prosecution, the court has ____ (v) ____ a lie detector to ascertain the truth.

1. (i) inferred, (ii) feigned, (iii) separation, (iv) deportment, (v) prescribed
2. (i) inferred, (ii) forged, (iii) parting, (iv) deportment, (v) proscribed
3. (i) implied, (ii) faked, (iii) separation, (iv) demeanour, (v) proscribed
4. (i) implied, (ii) feigned, (iii) separation, (iv) demeanour, (v) prescribed
5. (i) inferred, (ii) faked, (iii) cessation, (iv) deportment, (v) proscribed

 

Solutions:

Reading Comprehension

Q.1.

Answer: The passage clearly mentions that in the initial days, learning is piecemeal (First sentence of the last paragraph). Hence the answer is Option A.

– Option B is wrong as the passage does not talk about pleasure or pain of learning.

– Option C is incorrect as new connections make reality more intelligible to us.

– Option D is incorrect as learning would be made difficult if the subjects cannot be “related to each other”

– Option E: there is no mention of “happiness” in the passage.

Q.2. Statement II and III are mentioned in the passage (refer paragraph 3). Statement I and V go against the essence/core argument of the passage (refer paragraph 1 and paragraph 2). Any option that contains statement I or V would be wrong. Hence, A, C, D, E are rejected. Thus, Option B is the correct answer.

Q.3.

The passage clearly suggests that connections across multiple neurons (many a mickle) makes learning (makes a muckle) possible in the long run. So, Option E best captures the essence of the passage i.e. multiple neuron excitation of neurons lead to learning.

– Option A is partially correct because learning takes time, but is partially wrong because it does not capture that learning is cumulative and connected. Further, there is no mention of learning being an interaction between ‘master/teacher/agent’ and pupil.

– Option C is not relevant as there is no ultimate objective (ends well) of learning described in the paragraph).

– Option D is contradictory to the idea of the passage.

Q.4. The father being older is likely to have more related (paragliding) neurons excited (as excitation would have started earlier) and hence is likely to outperform his son in learning paragliding (unless the father has not been exposed to paragliding and son has been – there is no hint about this in the passage). Refer to paragraph 5 for the logic.

Hence, Option B is the correct answer.

Q.5. It is mentioned that orchids do not end up as sociopath, but they can thrive in some conditions. The alternate hypothesis (in the second paragraph) clearly mentions that in a right environment orchids do flourish. So, Option D is the correct answer.

Q.6.

Option A- not necessarily right as sometimes ‘orchids’ can flourish.

– Option B – adaptability is more a characteristic of ‘dandelions’ than of orchids.

– Option C – under these conditions, orchids may end up being “sociopaths” and hence it is wrong.

– Option E – success depends on genes as well as the environment, as mentioned in the passage.

So, Option D is the correct answer as it is clearly mentioned in the passage.

Q.7. Diathesis means susceptibility to diseases. Hence option A.

Q.8. This question mentions only one of the two causes – the environment. The two causes are genes and environment. The two causes mix up to determine the consequence (sociopath/normal). In other words, the question is silent about second cause i.e. “gene”.

Another way to state the same would be as follow:

According to this passage two conditions are necessary to make any inference regarding the children typology (whether dandelion or orchid): genes and environment for a person. In other words, if one is raised in a particular environment that does not definitely make the person an orchid or dandelion. Hence, no conclusion can be drawn.

Correct answer is Option E.

Verbal Ability

Q.1. Question asked: ‘meaningfully follow’

– Option A is already mentioned in the passage and hence it is repetition.

– Option C talks about integral calculus which is coming abruptly (not mentioned in the passage). Similarly Option D is also irrelevant as concepts like ‘particle physics’ and ‘CERN experiments’ are not mentioned previously.

– Option E contradicts the first line of the passage. So these are not the right answer.

Only Option B has reference to the ‘two points of view’, mentioned previously.

Q.2. B. The main statement states that ‘Ranu is an ordinary sportsperson’ and the second statement offers anecdotal evidence (of sprint events) to justify that. Option B says that she is a national champion in shot-put. It is worth to note that even if she is incompetent in ‘running’ that does not mean she ‘is an ordinary sportsperson’. In other words, she is a competent sportsperson since she shows her strength in another sport. This strongly discards the main statement. This is the correct answer.

Q.3. ii-iv-i-iii

Q.4. A

Q.5. 2

Q.6. 1. Follows from the starting sentence of the passage.

Q.7. 5. Everyone holds back, hence everyone loses in the long run.

Q.8. Childlike – Innocent and playful like child.

In contrast, all other options have negative connotation.

Hence, Option D is the correct answer.

Q.9.

– Eminent – outstanding

– Immanent – inherent/existing or operating within

– Imminent – about to happen

– Eminence – quality of being eminent

So, Option C is the correct answer. (Imminence means quality of being imminent)

Q.10. Deportment and demeanour are similar and can be replaced in this case. Prescribed and Proscribed are opposite to each other. Cessation always follows “of” (“cessation of”).

The last sentence mentions that court did something “not expected” by the counsel. If Court did not accept counsel’s argument that means counsel was “implying” something. If it is “implied” that means the court may not be convinced with counsel’s argument(only counsel is implying it) and hence the court can say that there is no need for lie detector test, despite appeal from the counsel (as court is not convinced). On the other hand, if it had been “inferred” then the court should have actually gone ahead and verified whether inference was right. In that case “however” should not have been used. Probably “For verification” should have been used. The difference between “infer” and “imply” is that imply is indicative from the agent and infer is conclusive based on something related.

Combining all these arguments, C becomes best option.