CAT 2017 Verbal Ability Preparation - PaGaLGuY

MBA CAT 2024
761

 

A few miles off the coast of Massachusetts, aboard the fishing boat the Miss Emily, chains groaned as they lifted the sodden net out of the water. The multi-hued strands opened, spilling their meager contents onto the deck. “This is definitely a small catch,” said William Hoffman, senior marine biologist with the Massachusetts Department of Fisheries. The scientists and fishermen aboard the boat splashed through the flopping fish, shoveling them onto a conveyor belt and then quickly sorted the catch by species: flounder, hake, sea herring, haddock, lobster.

After sorting the fish, the team tossed them back onto the conveyor belt by species. Hoffman caught each fish as it came off the belt and slid it down the table to his colleague Nick Buchan. Hands protected by thick blue gloves, Buchan grabbed hold of a slippery flounder. He lined its nose up at the end of the electronic measuring board and stamped a small magnet onto the board just where the fish’s tail fin forked. The computer wired to the board blared as it recorded where the magnet landed, locking in the length of the flounder. Buchan seized the fish around its mid-section and tossed it into a nearby orange bucket to be weighed. The whole process took only a few seconds, and Hoffman and Buchan were on to the next fish. 32cm, BEEP. 28cm, BEEP.

The team worked quickly and efficiently, identifying, sexing, sizing, and weighing hundreds upon hundreds of fish. They would repeat this day’s activity multiple times over eight months, in a carefully plotted program to count the diversity of fish in Massachusetts state waters.

Scientists—and fishermen—want to know how many fish are left in the oceans, because the numbers amassed from these types of trawls provide the basis for local and national decisions about how many fish the fishermen are allowed to take out of the water—how much we can eat and how much we have to leave in. Can we strike a balance that maintains viable, sustainable marine populations? The answer comes down to a challenge that seemed straightforward aboard the Miss Emily (so simple, indeed, that by the end of the day we’d even slipped on gloves to help) and yet is actually incredibly difficult to resolve: counting fish.

Figuring out how many fish there are in the sea is an impossible, essential challenge. Marine life provides a crucial source of protein for billions of people around the world, as well as necessary income for people in coastal communities. But the trends are alarming. The World Wildlife Fund estimated in a 2015 report that some commercially important stocks have been reduced by almost 75 percent since the 1970s. If fishing pressure continues unchecked, several species could be wiped out entirely, causing unknown damage to marine ecosystems. At the same time, if governments place restrictions on the industry that are overly conservative, many fishermen could unnecessarily lose their jobs, and untold numbers of people could be deprived of an important food source.

The stakes are huge, the ocean is vast, and the fish won’t stay still, which makes counting them important and exceedingly difficult. For decades, scientists have relied upon counting techniques similar to the one used on the Miss Emily. But now researchers are looking to the latest technologies—artificial intelligence, autonomous submarines, and drones—to develop new methods for quantifying fish populations. In the process, they’re learning much more about the fish themselves. Are better numbers, combined with a richer understanding of marine ecosystems, enough to save both the fish and the humans who depend on them?

Q.24
Which of the following best describes the tone of the passage?

1   Didactic.

2  Reflective.

3  Descriptive.

4  Critical. 

762

 I would like you advice(A)/advise(B) on which job I should choose.

  The last scene provided a climactic(A)/climatic(B) ending to the film. 

 Jeans that flair(A)/flare(B) at the bottom are in fashion these days. 

763

 He has the same capacity as an adult to consent(A)/assent(B) to surgical treatment.

 The minister is obliged(A)/compelled (B) to report regularly to a parliamentary board. 

His analysis of the situation is far too sanguine(A)/genuine(B) 

764

 We were not successful in defusing(A)/diffusing(B) the Guru’s ideas.  


The students baited(A)/bated(B) the instructor with irrelevant questions. 

 

The hoard(A)/horde(B) rushed into the campus.


 The prisoner’s interment(A)/ internment(B) came to an end with his early release.  


The hockey team could not deal with his unsociable(A)/unsocial(B) tendencies 

765

 Given the cultural and intellectual interconnections, the question of what is ‘Western’ and what is ‘Eastern’ (or ‘Indian’) is often hard to decide, and the issue can be discussed only in more dialectical terms. The diagnosis of a thought as ‘purely Western’ or ‘purely Indian’ can be very illusory. 


  (1) Thoughts are not the kind of things that can be easily categorized.


 (2) Though ‘occidentalism’ and ‘orientalism’ as dichotomous concepts have found many adherents.


 (3) ‘East is East and West is West’ has been a discredited notion for a long time now.


 (4) Compartmentalizing thoughts is often desirable.


 (5) The origin of a thought is not the kind of thing to which ‘purity’ happens easily.  

766

 

For the benefit of one of my students who actually believed that writers must be intellectuals, Robert Frost sat down with me and her and explained the vast difference between the two. “Intellectuals,” he said, with a gesture of impatience at the thought of them, “deal in abstractions. It’s much safer that way. Writers take risks. They deal in anecdotes and parables. The Bible is written in anecdotes and parables.”

It is not always easy to convince students that what Frost said is true. To the recalcitrant who may, quite paradoxically, accept the miracle of Christianity while rejecting the inner world created by the mind of man, I tell the following anecdote:

My friend, a French painter and Resistance fighter, was put in a concentration camp by the Nazis. Every evening during his long incarceration, he and two or three of his fellow prisoners created a world to which their jailers had no access. Entirely by means of conversation and gestures, they dressed for dinner in immaculate white shirts that did not exist, and placed, at times with some difficulty because of the starched material that wasn’t there, pearl or ruby studs and cuff links in those shirts. With the greatest gallantry and deference, they helped one another into jackets that were formal or informal, as befitted the restaurant in which they had chosen to dine.

Moreover, these imprisoned men took on different identities every evening, and the conversation therefore differed as they sat down at a table glittering with silver and crystal that their eyes only could perceive. With their varying identities, the menu and the wine also differed. If they were playing the role of distinguished diplomats, the conversation was of wooded alpine regions and the hunt, and they ordered wild boar and pheasant from the waiter who was not there. On occasion, they sent dishes back if the food was not done to their liking.

They drank Châteauneuf-du-Pape throughout the meal and Château d’Yquem with the dessert pastry. At times, after tasting the wine, they found it had not been properly corked and they had it taken away. There were certain restaurants they did not patronize a second time because the lobster had been overcooked or the after-dinner brandy had not been served in the traditional wide-bowled crystal that one could cradle in the hand.

On the evenings that they saw themselves as men of letters, they quoted from the great poets while they dined, reciting all the lines they could remember of Homer, Dante, Milton, and Shakespeare. If they were scientists, at least one among them would be a Nobel Prize winner, and they would discuss Da Vinci and Spengler and Einstein. The words they spoke were real, if nothing else was, and the lonely courage that other men had expressed gave them the courage to survive.

So, to those students who have not found the way to write from inside the bottle of Chablis, one must never cease to offer bottles of even richer, finer wines. And one can ask them as well to listen to the words of a very great young writer of our time, James Baldwin, whose fervent essays put much of contemporary, so-called creative writing to everlasting shame. “Although we do not wholly believe it yet,” Baldwin has said, “the interior life is a real life, and the intangible dreams of people have a tangible effect upon the world.” If we as writers and as teachers can communicate that quite simple truth to others, then we shall have fulfilled our roles.

Q.11
The author uses the term ‘recalcitrant’ in the third paragraph because he's

1   describing rebellious authors like Camus and Frost.

2  speaking of students who don’t co-operate with teachers.

3  highlighting the obstinance of those who dismiss the inner world created by the mind of man.

4  mocking the gullibility of students who believe in the birth of Christ. 

767

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768

 

Historical fiction is, according to Toby Litt, a “deeply bogus” genre. Not that there's anything “essentially reprehensible” about it – or, as Litt admits, that any arguments against it will stop people writing and reading it. Over recent years, historical fiction has attained new heights of popularity – or rather, of both popularity and prestige. But maybe it's nonetheless important to recognize that the name itself can be taken as an oxymoron: it conjoins "what was" (history) with “what might have been” (fiction). A historian is bound to assert the "dull truth" about the past when it is necessary; the prudent novelist takes the opposite course. The reader does not end up knowing more about the past through reading such fiction, Litt suggests, but less: what is offered instead is a "woozy melding of fact with fiction – of accurate fripperies of dress and inaccurate motivations of the heart". . . .

I read Litt's fine piece of provocation in his essay collection Mutants (which will be reviewed in a future issue of the TLS) a little while ago. It kept coming to mind over this weekend, however, during the course of a lively, friendly, engaging conference hosted by the “Historical Novel Society” in Oxford. Here were enthusiasts from as far as away as Tasmania, professional and amateur writers of historical fiction, brought together for a weekend of "talks, workshops, panels and fun events". It's the only conference I've attended where a tea break was interrupted by outbreaks of Saxon shouting, as part of a modest demonstration of how soldiers would have comported themselves at the Battle of Hastings – and very good fun it was, too, even when somebody mentioned Brexit in the context of Melvyn Bragg's talk about his recent novel Now Is the Time, about the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. ("It's all going to boil up" was his response.)

For those who work in the genre, the question of how to combine what was with what might have been is, of course, constantly and productively present; and the HNS, which celebrates its twentieth anniversary next year, has fostered a vast international conversation among its members online, including tens of thousands of book reviews. The conversation continued in Oxford, through the various panels about writing battle scenes, medieval heroines, the Great Fire of London and many other themes. Fay Weldon and Jo Baker discussed writing about the country house; Kate Williams, Margaret George and Manda Scott discussed "faith and morality in historical fiction and biography". The oxymoronic side of things surfaced several times during that last panel alone, as one novelist admitted to giving her heroine more personal freedom to roam around London unaccompanied than she knew to be possible for a woman of her class at that particular time; "it always rings false", another observed, when "modern sensibility" is imposed on historical characters.

Fredric Jameson once noted that the "historical novel can no longer set out to represent the historical past; it can only 'represent' our ideas and stereotypes about the past (which thereby at once become 'pop history')". Yet here we are, in a historical period when, the fiction editor of the TLS tells me, he receives a steady stream of novels about the Second War, Spanish fiction understandably harks back to the Spanish Civil War, and – in this anniversary year – you can easily lay hands on more than one novel about the Great Fire of 1666. Readers seem to be as comfortable now with this hybrid genre as they were in the age of Scott or Georgette Heyer – and writers are still trying to satisfy what Jameson called that "chemical craving for historicity". As another TLS critic put it, L. P. Hartley's famous line about the past being a foreign country is true; and it seems that "we all enjoy reading the guidebook".

Q.21
Which of the following is/are true as per the passage?
(a) Historical fiction is a deeply bogus genre.
(b) Historians talk about boring truth whereas novelists take the more interesting route.
(c) The Historical Novel Society organized a conference which was aimed at getting people to take historical fiction more seriously.
(d) No amount of criticism stops readers from enjoying historical fiction.

1   Only (a)

2  (a), (b) and (c)

3  (b), (c)and (d)

4  Only (d) 

769

PJ : 


 A. Even in the earliest paintings, depictions in the X-ray style are plentiful.
B. Such X-ray style bull images are depicted in Porivarai.
 C. The depiction of the skeleton and intestines of living animals is a  widely diffused phenomenon in the art of hunting and gathering  societies.
D. The style is obviously not uniform.
E. But uniformity is lacking even between animal depictions within the same painting group. 

770

 A. On a cold, rain-drenched afternoon, the place was desolate, its  placid precincts disturbed occasionally by the rustle of leaves and the  mournful pitter-patter of rain.
B. In rich Wien, Mozart died poor and young at the age of 35.
 C. And far removed from everyone’s gaze, in the south-eastern corner of  Vienna, in a nondescript cemetery, Mozart now rests in peace.
D. Though accessing it might not be exactly Herculean, challenging it is.
E. Ironically, the cemetery, St. Marxer Friedhof, is not part of the usual tourist itinerary. 

771

 A. Temples are built on river banks, cities that have grown up along the  banks are considered holy cities, pilgrimages are made to such temples  and cities and river festivals are celebrated in different seasons.
 B. That credit is reserved for the unseen or the abstract, either a  godhead or an energy that is not materially manifest, such as sound.
 C. Considering the material importance of rivers in human existence and  their total independence from human labour, it is not surprising that  they are vested with an enormous spiritual significance.
D. However, the spiritual significance of rivers is restricted to the purificatory and does not extend to the creational.
E. It is interesting to note that no river is given the credit for creating the universe. 


772

 Each question has four sentences pertaining to a subject, and  one of them is contextually/logically incorrect and incorrectly placed  in the sequence. Choose the option corresponding to the sentence  that is incorrect or inappropriate. Key in your answer using the  virtual keyboard provided.
1] Despite posting a double digit profit percentage, ABC Ltd. shares are trading below those of its competitors.
2] Their main competitor P&L Ltd. shares are trading at twice the market value owing to their goodwill amongst consumers.
 3] The worldwide recall activity conducted two years ago for the top  end model had a negative effect on its sales for a long time.
4] Analysts are expecting the value of the shares to pickup after the Annual General Meeting in March. 

773

 

Sentences  given in each question, when properly sequenced form a coherent  paragraph. Each sentence is labelled with a letter. Enter in the box provided below the most logical order of sentences from among the given choices to construct a coherent paragraph.  Note: Your answer should be in capital letters with no space in between.

A. It has been known by many names to travellers through the centuries - Serendib, Taprobane, Ceylon - and now, Sri Lanka. B. For instance, it takes only about two hours to drive from the  capital, Colombo, to reach the sunny and beautiful beaches in the south  of Sri Lanka or the hill capital Kandy, which is home to the sacred  tooth relic of Lord Buddha. C. What is unique here are the country's diverse attractions, be they  cultural, historical, contemporary, religious or natural; all found in  close proximity of one another. D. Within an hour or so of leaving Kandy, one could reach  breathtaking Nuwara Eliya, which the British used to call "Little  England"?, on account of its unique climate. E. A visitor need not travel for days or many hours to experience different climatic conditions and scenic beauty. F. Both Kandy and Nuwara Eliya are surrounded by lush tea  plantations, which produce some of the finest and pure Ceylon Tea that  refreshes millions of consumers globally, every day.  

774

 

 Sentences given in each question, when properly sequenced form a  coherent paragraph. Each sentence is labelled with a letter. Enter in  the box provided below the most logical order of sentences from among  the given choices to construct a coherent paragraph.  Note: Your answer should be in capital letters with no space in between.

A.  I was walking down a Manhattan street the other day, trying to retrieve  a message on my cell phone, when I realized I couldn't hear a word  because men with jackhammers were drilling into the sidewalk. 


B. Fleeing, I encountered fire trucks honking their way through  traffic, waste-disposal trucks grinding up old metal and buses wheezing  to hydraulic halts.


 C. I crossed to the other side and found myself assailed by a wailing ambulance siren.


 D. I've always suspected that New York is the noisiest city in the world, but now I'm sure. 


E. I escaped into a subway station only to be met by the deafening rattle and roar of the trains.


 F. I gave up trying to listen to my message; my cell phone doesn't work underground anyway.

775

  Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a meaningful and coherent short paragraph.Kindly explain how you reached the solution. Identify the odd one out. Also, what would be the order. 

1. Impatiens psittacina, is a very rare species of a perennial flowering balsam plant from Southeast Asia.

 2. Without its exotic light purple and carmine red parrot flowers the plant has few redeeming ornamental features looking more like a tall weed than a prized ornamental possession. 

3.  Seeds of Impatiens psittacina were presented to the Royal Gardens in 1899 and the plants flowered in 1900.

 4. It is called the parrot flower because its flower bears a resemblance to a parrot in flight when viewed from the side. 

5. In Thai, this species is known as “Dork Nok Khaew” which translates to “Flower Bird Parrot”

776

  Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a meaningful and coherent short paragraph.Kindly explain how you reached the solution. Identify the odd one out. Also, what would be the order. 

1. Man, whether civilised or savage, is a child of nature – he is not the master of nature.

 2. He must conform his actions to certain natural laws if he is to maintain his dominance over his environment. 

3. Civilized man was nearly always able to become master of his environment temporarily. 

4. When he tries to circumvent the laws of nature, he usually destroys the natural environment that sustains him. 

5. And when his environment deteriorates rapidly, his civilization declines.  

777

  Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a meaningful and coherent short paragraph.Kindly explain how you reached the solution. Identify the odd one out. Also, what would be the order. 

1. It is a bonding process with the entire situation where you, your car and its name make the entire equation.

 2. Good car names are catchy and fit the product, such as the ‘Beetle’or the ‘ Mini’ 

3. Marketing departments f car companies spend a lot of time and money thinking up names for cars

 4. The car you drive tells the world about your status, how much money you have,and the socio economic group you belong to(or want to belong to). 

5. The name should be a reflection of the brand, product and target group. 

778

In questions of the type: "Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?", if one of the options is already stated in the passage, does that mean that it cannot be inferred?


Specifically this is about the passage on oil prices and US economy in IMS VARC section test 4. 

 

Which of the following can be inferred from the passage with respect to the US economy?


a. The American economy is in a precarious position.

b. The magnitude of the oil crisis faced by the Unites States is unprecedented in its history.

c. The American military is partly responsible for the destabilization of oil prices in the North American continent.

d. The US economy could be in dire straits if there are any disruptions in major oil supplies.



779

Parajumble:


1. The simplicity raises skepticism and alienates the reader even further.
2. But a common solution chosen by today’s science communicator is to make science less complicated and more entertaining.
3. Unfortunately, some of these stories end up with the verisimilitude, complexity, and overall appeal of a fairy tale.
4. To this end, there’s been a steady emphasis on communicating scientific ideas through stories that either dramatize the working lives of scientists or speculate about the impact of a scientific idea on American society and culture.
5. This can be done well, of course, if it is done carefully and reported responsibly. 

780

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