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CAT 2024 Slot 1 answer key with solutions

This is the complete CAT 2024 Slot 1 question paper with answer key and solutions — 68 questions across VARC, DILR, QA, 2h with sectional timers. Three sequential sections with sectional timers. MCQ negative marking; TITA has none. You can attempt this paper free on MBACracked under exam-accurate timing and unlock topic-wise analytics after you finish.

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VARC(24 questions)

Q1Reading Comprehension·Specific Detail

The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question. In the summer of 2022, subscribers to the US streaming service HBO MAX were alarmed to discover that dozens of the platform’s offerings — from the Covid-themed heist thriller Locked Down to the recent remake of The Witches — had been quietly removed from the service . . . The news seemed like vindication to those who had long warned that streaming was more about controlling access to the cultural commons than expanding it, as did reports (since denied by the show’s creators) that Netflix had begun editing old episodes of Stranger Things to retroactively improve their visual effects. What's less clear is whether the commonly prescribed cure for these cultural ills — a return to the material pleasures of physical media — is the right one. While the makers of Blu-ray discs claim they have a shelf life of 100 years, such statistics remain largely theoretical until they come to pass, and are dependent on storage conditions, not to mention the continued availability of playback equipment. The humble DVD has already proved far less resilient, with many early releases already beginning to deteriorate in quality Digital movie purchases provide even less security. Any film “bought” on iTunes could disappear if you move to another territory with a different rights agreement and try to redownload it. It’s a bold new frontier in the commodification of art: the birth of the product recall. After a man took to Twitter to bemoan losing access to Cars 2 after moving from Canada to Australia, Apple clarified that users who downloaded films to their devices would retain permanent access to those downloads, even if they relocated to a hemisphere where the content was subject to a different set of rights agreements. Thanks to the company’s ironclad digital rights management technology, however, such files cannot be moved or backed up, locking you into watching with your Apple account. Anyone who does manage to acquire Digital Rights Management free (DRM-free) copies of their favourite films must nonetheless grapple with ever-changing file format standards, not to mention data decay — the gradual process by which electronic information slowly but surely corrupts. Only the regular migration of files from hard drive to hard drive can delay the inevitable, in a sisyphean battle against the ravages of digital time. In a sense, none of this is new. Charlie Chaplin burned the negative of his 1926 film A Woman of the Sea as a tax write-off. Many more films have been lost through accident, negligence or plain indifference. During a heat wave in July 1937, a Fox film vault in New Jersey burned down, destroying a majority of the silent films produced by the studio. Back then, at least, cinema was defined by its ephemerality: the sense that a film was as good as gone once it left your local cinema. Today, with film studios keen to stress the breadth of their back catalogues (or to put in Hollywood terms, the value of their IPs), audiences may start to wonder why those same studios seem happy to set the vault alight themselves if it'll help next quarter’s numbers.

“Netflix had begun editing old episodes of Stranger Things to retroactively improve their visual effects.” What is the purpose of this example used in the passage?

  • ATo show that art in the digital age, specifically film, is no longer sacrosanct, and may be changed to suit changing tastes or technology.
  • BTo show that streaming services are controlling access to the cultural commons rather than expanding it.
  • CTo show how unsubstantiated reports are leading to an increase in the level of distrust towards streaming services.
  • DTo show a practice that justifies the fears of people who feel streaming services cannot be trusted to be custodians of cultural artefacts like film.Correct answer

Answer: D

Show explanation
Answer:D The stem asks why the passage cites reports that Netflix retroactively edited *Stranger Things*. That example sits beside HBO Max deletions as vindication for people who already fear streamers will not safeguard cultural works; the point is that such practices *justify* those fears about custodianship. Why the others fail: • A — Treats the example as a general claim that digital film is no longer “sacrosanct,” but the passage deploys it to support distrust of streamers as custodians, not to argue mutability for its own sake. • B — “Controlling the cultural commons” is the broader theme of removals/access, not the specific job of the VFX-editing report. • C — The reports are framed as reinforcing real worries; the passage does not cast them as baseless rumors that manufacture distrust.
Q2Reading Comprehension·Application & Analogy

The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question. In the summer of 2022, subscribers to the US streaming service HBO MAX were alarmed to discover that dozens of the platform’s offerings — from the Covid-themed heist thriller Locked Down to the recent remake of The Witches — had been quietly removed from the service . . . The news seemed like vindication to those who had long warned that streaming was more about controlling access to the cultural commons than expanding it, as did reports (since denied by the show’s creators) that Netflix had begun editing old episodes of Stranger Things to retroactively improve their visual effects. What's less clear is whether the commonly prescribed cure for these cultural ills — a return to the material pleasures of physical media — is the right one. While the makers of Blu-ray discs claim they have a shelf life of 100 years, such statistics remain largely theoretical until they come to pass, and are dependent on storage conditions, not to mention the continued availability of playback equipment. The humble DVD has already proved far less resilient, with many early releases already beginning to deteriorate in quality Digital movie purchases provide even less security. Any film “bought” on iTunes could disappear if you move to another territory with a different rights agreement and try to redownload it. It’s a bold new frontier in the commodification of art: the birth of the product recall. After a man took to Twitter to bemoan losing access to Cars 2 after moving from Canada to Australia, Apple clarified that users who downloaded films to their devices would retain permanent access to those downloads, even if they relocated to a hemisphere where the content was subject to a different set of rights agreements. Thanks to the company’s ironclad digital rights management technology, however, such files cannot be moved or backed up, locking you into watching with your Apple account. Anyone who does manage to acquire Digital Rights Management free (DRM-free) copies of their favourite films must nonetheless grapple with ever-changing file format standards, not to mention data decay — the gradual process by which electronic information slowly but surely corrupts. Only the regular migration of files from hard drive to hard drive can delay the inevitable, in a sisyphean battle against the ravages of digital time. In a sense, none of this is new. Charlie Chaplin burned the negative of his 1926 film A Woman of the Sea as a tax write-off. Many more films have been lost through accident, negligence or plain indifference. During a heat wave in July 1937, a Fox film vault in New Jersey burned down, destroying a majority of the silent films produced by the studio. Back then, at least, cinema was defined by its ephemerality: the sense that a film was as good as gone once it left your local cinema. Today, with film studios keen to stress the breadth of their back catalogues (or to put in Hollywood terms, the value of their IPs), audiences may start to wonder why those same studios seem happy to set the vault alight themselves if it'll help next quarter’s numbers.

Which one of the following statements, if true, would best invalidate the main argument of the passage?

  • AImproved cloud storage services have made it possible for movie collections to now be preserved in perpetuity, without the need to keep migrating the files.
  • BWhen moving to a different geographical location, customers can easily use Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to bypass geo-blocking and regain access to their content on any streaming service.
  • CRecent research has irrefutably proven that Blu-Ray discs have a shelf life of at least 100years.
  • DStudios and streaming services have committed to giving customersCorrect answer

Answer: D

Show explanation
Answer:D (Studios and streaming services have committed to giving customers…) The passage’s core worry is that digital “ownership” is fragile: titles vanish from catalogues, geo-rights lock people out, DRM blocks backup, and formats/data decay. The strongest invalidation would be a credible commitment that customers keep durable, platform-independent access—exactly what the keyed choice asserts (even though the option text is truncated in the source dump). Why the others fail: • A — Better cloud storage only eases file migration/decay; it leaves DRM, geo-rights, and catalogue deletions untouched. • B — VPNs may dodge geo-blocks for some users but do not restore deleted titles or unlock DRM-bound files. • C — A longer Blu-ray shelf life strengthens physical media slightly but does not fix streaming control, purchases, or digital decay.
Q3Reading Comprehension·Inference

The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question. In the summer of 2022, subscribers to the US streaming service HBO MAX were alarmed to discover that dozens of the platform’s offerings — from the Covid-themed heist thriller Locked Down to the recent remake of The Witches — had been quietly removed from the service . . . The news seemed like vindication to those who had long warned that streaming was more about controlling access to the cultural commons than expanding it, as did reports (since denied by the show’s creators) that Netflix had begun editing old episodes of Stranger Things to retroactively improve their visual effects. What's less clear is whether the commonly prescribed cure for these cultural ills — a return to the material pleasures of physical media — is the right one. While the makers of Blu-ray discs claim they have a shelf life of 100 years, such statistics remain largely theoretical until they come to pass, and are dependent on storage conditions, not to mention the continued availability of playback equipment. The humble DVD has already proved far less resilient, with many early releases already beginning to deteriorate in quality Digital movie purchases provide even less security. Any film “bought” on iTunes could disappear if you move to another territory with a different rights agreement and try to redownload it. It’s a bold new frontier in the commodification of art: the birth of the product recall. After a man took to Twitter to bemoan losing access to Cars 2 after moving from Canada to Australia, Apple clarified that users who downloaded films to their devices would retain permanent access to those downloads, even if they relocated to a hemisphere where the content was subject to a different set of rights agreements. Thanks to the company’s ironclad digital rights management technology, however, such files cannot be moved or backed up, locking you into watching with your Apple account. Anyone who does manage to acquire Digital Rights Management free (DRM-free) copies of their favourite films must nonetheless grapple with ever-changing file format standards, not to mention data decay — the gradual process by which electronic information slowly but surely corrupts. Only the regular migration of files from hard drive to hard drive can delay the inevitable, in a sisyphean battle against the ravages of digital time. In a sense, none of this is new. Charlie Chaplin burned the negative of his 1926 film A Woman of the Sea as a tax write-off. Many more films have been lost through accident, negligence or plain indifference. During a heat wave in July 1937, a Fox film vault in New Jersey burned down, destroying a majority of the silent films produced by the studio. Back then, at least, cinema was defined by its ephemerality: the sense that a film was as good as gone once it left your local cinema. Today, with film studios keen to stress the breadth of their back catalogues (or to put in Hollywood terms, the value of their IPs), audiences may start to wonder why those same studios seem happy to set the vault alight themselves if it'll help next quarter’s numbers.

Which one of the following statements about art best captures the arguments made in the passage?

  • AIn the age of online subscription services, it is time to change our understanding of classic works of art being primarily immutable and easily available to the public.
  • BAccepting retroactive changes to works of art is dangerous because it will encourage creators to not put enough effort into the original attempt, given that they can always edit or update their work later.
  • CWorks of art belong to the cultural commons and hence must remain available in perpetuity, irrespective of who pays for access to them.
  • DAs art is increasingly created, stored and distributed digitally, access to it is counter intuitively likely to be made more difficult by the rapid churn in technology and the whims of host platforms.Correct answer

Answer: D

Show explanation
Answer:D The question wants the statement that best captures the passage’s argument about art. Across streaming removals, locked digital purchases, format churn, and data decay, the author argues that digitised art is, paradoxically, *harder* to keep hold of because of tech churn and platform whims. Why the others fail: • A — Calls for a new “understanding” of classics as mutable/available; the passage diagnoses access failure, not a prescription to rethink immutability. • B — Invents a moral hazard about creators slacking because they can edit later; the text never makes that claim. • C — Asserts an ownership philosophy (art must stay in the commons forever regardless of payment) that the author does not argue as doctrine.
Q4Reading Comprehension·Inference

The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question. In the summer of 2022, subscribers to the US streaming service HBO MAX were alarmed to discover that dozens of the platform’s offerings — from the Covid-themed heist thriller Locked Down to the recent remake of The Witches — had been quietly removed from the service . . . The news seemed like vindication to those who had long warned that streaming was more about controlling access to the cultural commons than expanding it, as did reports (since denied by the show’s creators) that Netflix had begun editing old episodes of Stranger Things to retroactively improve their visual effects. What's less clear is whether the commonly prescribed cure for these cultural ills — a return to the material pleasures of physical media — is the right one. While the makers of Blu-ray discs claim they have a shelf life of 100 years, such statistics remain largely theoretical until they come to pass, and are dependent on storage conditions, not to mention the continued availability of playback equipment. The humble DVD has already proved far less resilient, with many early releases already beginning to deteriorate in quality Digital movie purchases provide even less security. Any film “bought” on iTunes could disappear if you move to another territory with a different rights agreement and try to redownload it. It’s a bold new frontier in the commodification of art: the birth of the product recall. After a man took to Twitter to bemoan losing access to Cars 2 after moving from Canada to Australia, Apple clarified that users who downloaded films to their devices would retain permanent access to those downloads, even if they relocated to a hemisphere where the content was subject to a different set of rights agreements. Thanks to the company’s ironclad digital rights management technology, however, such files cannot be moved or backed up, locking you into watching with your Apple account. Anyone who does manage to acquire Digital Rights Management free (DRM-free) copies of their favourite films must nonetheless grapple with ever-changing file format standards, not to mention data decay — the gradual process by which electronic information slowly but surely corrupts. Only the regular migration of files from hard drive to hard drive can delay the inevitable, in a sisyphean battle against the ravages of digital time. In a sense, none of this is new. Charlie Chaplin burned the negative of his 1926 film A Woman of the Sea as a tax write-off. Many more films have been lost through accident, negligence or plain indifference. During a heat wave in July 1937, a Fox film vault in New Jersey burned down, destroying a majority of the silent films produced by the studio. Back then, at least, cinema was defined by its ephemerality: the sense that a film was as good as gone once it left your local cinema. Today, with film studios keen to stress the breadth of their back catalogues (or to put in Hollywood terms, the value of their IPs), audiences may start to wonder why those same studios seem happy to set the vault alight themselves if it'll help next quarter’s numbers.

Which of the following statements is suggested by the sentence “Back then, at least, cinema was defined by its ephemerality: the sense that a film was as good as gone once it left your local cinema”?

  • AToday, films are expected to be available for a long time, since they are no longer tied solely to their stay at the local cinema.Correct answer
  • BCinema is now no longer as ephemeral as it used to be earlier, because the technology used for creating and preserving films has improved manifold.
  • CPresently, there is no reason why film studios should remove access to films once they have left the local cinema.
  • DAround a century ago, people were more accepting of not having access to films once they left the local cinema.

Answer: A

Show explanation
Answer:A The quoted line contrasts past cinema—once a film left the local theatre it was effectively gone—with today, when studios sell the idea of lasting back-catalogue/IP value. The suggestion is that audiences now expect films to remain available long after theatrical release. Why the others fail: • B — Blames improved preservation technology; the sentence is about changed expectations of availability, not tech progress. • C — Turns the line into a present-day ethical rule that studios must not remove films; that prescription is not what the sentence suggests. • D — Claims past audiences were more *accepting* of loss; the text notes ephemerality as the old condition, not greater public contentment with it.
Q5Verbal Ability·Sentence Placement

Sentence: Comprehending a wide range of emotions, Renaissance music nevertheless portrayed all emotions in a balanced and moderate fashion. Paragraph: A volume of translated Italian madrigals were published in London during the year of 1588. This sudden public interest facilitated a surge of English Madrigal writing as well as a spurt of other secular music writing and publication. __(1)___. This music boom lasted for thirty years and was as much a golden age of music as British literature was with Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth __(2)__. The rebirth in both literature and music originated in Italy and migrated to England; the English madrigal became more humorous and lighter in England as compared to Italy. Renaissance music was mostly polyphonic in texture. ___(3)___. Extreme use of and contrasts in dynamics, rhythm, and tone colour do not occur. __(4)__. The rhythms in Renaissance music tend to have a smooth, soft flow instead of a sharp, well-defined pulse of accents.

  • ABlank 3Correct answer
  • BBlank 4
  • CBlank 1
  • DBlank 2

Answer: A

Show explanation
Answer:A (Blank 3) Sentence. Renaissance music portrayed a wide range of emotions, but always in a balanced, moderate way. Why Blank 3. The paragraph has reached texture (polyphonic). The missing sentence states the aesthetic of moderation; the next sentence (“Extreme use of… dynamics… do not occur”) instances it, and the closing sentence does the same for rhythm. Why not the others. - Blank 1 is still the 1588 publication boom. - Blank 2 is the Italy→England / Shakespeare parallel. - Blank 4 already illustrates the no-extremes claim; the claim itself must come first.
Q6Verbal Ability·Paragraph Summary

Cartographers design and create maps to communicate information about phenomena located somewhere on our planet. In the past, cartographers did not worry too much about who was going to read their maps. Although some simple “usability” research was done—like comparing whether circle or bar symbols worked best—cartographers knew how to make maps. This has changed now, however, due to all kinds of societal and technological developments. Today, map readers are more demanding—mostly because of the tools they use to read maps. Cartographers, who are also influenced by these trends, are now more interested in seeing if their products are efficient, effective, and appreciated.

  • AMaps are being used for a variety of reasons and therefore map readers have become more demanding.
  • BToday, cartographers also need to look into the usability of maps because of the new technological developments.Correct answer
  • CNew technological developments have prompted cartographers to experiment with their maps by applying these new innovations.
  • DModern mapmakers evaluate a map’s effectiveness efficiency and satisfaction of the user through a series of experiments.

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B The passage pivots from cartographers who “knew how to make maps” with only light symbol tests to a present in which tech-shaped reading tools make users more demanding, so mapmakers care whether products are efficient, effective, and appreciated. B names that new usability duty as a response to technological change. Why the others fail • A — Ties demanding readers to maps serving “a variety of reasons,” but the stem’s cause is the tools people use to read maps, not multiplicity of map purposes. • C — Casts cartographers as experimenting by applying innovations; the text is about checking whether maps work for users, not about novelty experiments. • D — Invents a fixed evaluation ritual (“series of experiments” for effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction); the passage only says interest in those qualities has risen, not that a standard experimental battery is how they are measured.
Q7Reading Comprehension·Inference

The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question. ... The idea of craftsmanship is not simply nostalgic. .. . Crafts require distinct skills, an all-round approach to work that involves the whole product, rather than individual parts, and an attitude that necessitates devotion to the job and a focus on the communal interest. The concept of craft emphasises the human touch and individual judgment. Essentially, the crafts concept seems to run against the preponderant ethos of management studies which, as the academics note, have long prioritised efficiency and consistency. . . . Craft skills were portrayed as being primitive and traditionalist. The contrast between artisanship and efficiency first came to the fore in the 19 century when British manufacturers suddenly faced competition from across the Atlantic as firms developed the “American system” using standardised parts. . . . the worldwide success of the Singer sewing machine showed the potential of a mass-produced device. This process created its own reaction, first in the form of the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th century, and then again in the “small is beautiful’ movement of the 1970s. A third crafts movement is emerging as people become aware of the environmental impact of conventional industry. There are two potential markets for those who practise crafts. The first stems from the existence of consumers who are willing to pay a premium price for goods that are deemed to be of extra quality... . The second market lies in those consumers who wish to use their purchases to support local workers, or to reduce their environmental impact by taking goods to craftspeople to be mended, or recycled. For workers, the appeal of craftsmanship is that it allows them the autonomy to make creative choices, and thus makes a job far more satisfying. In that sense, it could offer hope for the overall labour market. Let the machines automate dull and repetitive tasks and let workers focus purely on their skills, judgment and imagination. As a current example, the academics cite the “agile” manifesto in the software sector, an industry at the heart of technological change. The pioneers behind the original agile manifesto promised to prioritise “individuals and interactions over processes and tools”. By bringing together experts from different teams, agile working is designed to improve creativity. But the broader question is whether crafts can create a lot more jobs than they do today. Demand for crafted products may rise but will it be easy to retrain workers in sectors that might get automated (such as truck drivers) to take advantage? In a world where products and services often have to pass through regulatory hoops, large companies will usually have the advantage. History also suggests that the link between crafts and creativity is not automatic. Medieval craft guilds were monopolies which resisted new entrants. They were also highly hierarchical with young men required to spend long periods as apprentices and journeymen before they could set up on their own; by that time the innovative spirit may have been knocked out of them. Craft workers can thrive in the modern era, but only if they don’t get too organised.

The author questions the ability of crafts to create substantial employment opportunities presently because

  • Acrafts guilds tend to resist new entrants and are unlikely to accept large numbers of trainees.
  • Bregulatory requirements could make it difficult for small crafts outfits to compete.Correct answer
  • Cworkers made redundant by automation are unlikely to opt for crafts-related work.
  • Dthe low scale of crafts production will not be able to absorb the mass of redundant labour.

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B The author doubts crafts can absorb lots of new jobs now because, after floating demand and retraining questions, the text stresses regulatory hurdles where large firms hold the edge—so small craft outfits struggle to compete at scale. Why the others fail: • A — Guild resistance to entrants is a *historical* creativity problem later in the passage, not the stated reason employment growth is hard today. • C — The author wonders whether retraining is easy, not that redundant workers refuse craft work. • D — Low scale is not the hinge; the explicit present obstacle named is regulation favouring big companies.
Q8Reading Comprehension·Inference

The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question. ... The idea of craftsmanship is not simply nostalgic. .. . Crafts require distinct skills, an all-round approach to work that involves the whole product, rather than individual parts, and an attitude that necessitates devotion to the job and a focus on the communal interest. The concept of craft emphasises the human touch and individual judgment. Essentially, the crafts concept seems to run against the preponderant ethos of management studies which, as the academics note, have long prioritised efficiency and consistency. . . . Craft skills were portrayed as being primitive and traditionalist. The contrast between artisanship and efficiency first came to the fore in the 19 century when British manufacturers suddenly faced competition from across the Atlantic as firms developed the “American system” using standardised parts. . . . the worldwide success of the Singer sewing machine showed the potential of a mass-produced device. This process created its own reaction, first in the form of the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th century, and then again in the “small is beautiful’ movement of the 1970s. A third crafts movement is emerging as people become aware of the environmental impact of conventional industry. There are two potential markets for those who practise crafts. The first stems from the existence of consumers who are willing to pay a premium price for goods that are deemed to be of extra quality... . The second market lies in those consumers who wish to use their purchases to support local workers, or to reduce their environmental impact by taking goods to craftspeople to be mended, or recycled. For workers, the appeal of craftsmanship is that it allows them the autonomy to make creative choices, and thus makes a job far more satisfying. In that sense, it could offer hope for the overall labour market. Let the machines automate dull and repetitive tasks and let workers focus purely on their skills, judgment and imagination. As a current example, the academics cite the “agile” manifesto in the software sector, an industry at the heart of technological change. The pioneers behind the original agile manifesto promised to prioritise “individuals and interactions over processes and tools”. By bringing together experts from different teams, agile working is designed to improve creativity. But the broader question is whether crafts can create a lot more jobs than they do today. Demand for crafted products may rise but will it be easy to retrain workers in sectors that might get automated (such as truck drivers) to take advantage? In a world where products and services often have to pass through regulatory hoops, large companies will usually have the advantage. History also suggests that the link between crafts and creativity is not automatic. Medieval craft guilds were monopolies which resisted new entrants. They were also highly hierarchical with young men required to spend long periods as apprentices and journeymen before they could set up on their own; by that time the innovative spirit may have been knocked out of them. Craft workers can thrive in the modern era, but only if they don’t get too organised.

We can infer from the passage that medieval crafts guilds resembled mass production in that both

  • Afocused excessively on product quality.
  • Bdiscouraged innovation by restricting entry through strict rules.
  • Cdid not necessarily promote creativity.Correct answer
  • Ddid not always employ egalitarian production processes.

Answer: C

Show explanation
Answer:C The passage says the craft–creativity link is not automatic: medieval guilds could knock the innovative spirit out of apprentices. Mass production is cast as efficiency-first, not creativity-first. The shared inference is that neither setup *necessarily* promotes creativity. Why the others fail: • A — Mass production is about standardisation/efficiency, not an excessive focus on quality like artisan work. • B — Restricting entry fits guilds; it is not how the passage characterises mass production’s similarity. • D — Hierarchy/non-egalitarian process is true of guilds but is not the likeness the author draws to mass production.
Q9Reading Comprehension·Tone & Attitude

The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question. ... The idea of craftsmanship is not simply nostalgic. .. . Crafts require distinct skills, an all-round approach to work that involves the whole product, rather than individual parts, and an attitude that necessitates devotion to the job and a focus on the communal interest. The concept of craft emphasises the human touch and individual judgment. Essentially, the crafts concept seems to run against the preponderant ethos of management studies which, as the academics note, have long prioritised efficiency and consistency. . . . Craft skills were portrayed as being primitive and traditionalist. The contrast between artisanship and efficiency first came to the fore in the 19 century when British manufacturers suddenly faced competition from across the Atlantic as firms developed the “American system” using standardised parts. . . . the worldwide success of the Singer sewing machine showed the potential of a mass-produced device. This process created its own reaction, first in the form of the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th century, and then again in the “small is beautiful’ movement of the 1970s. A third crafts movement is emerging as people become aware of the environmental impact of conventional industry. There are two potential markets for those who practise crafts. The first stems from the existence of consumers who are willing to pay a premium price for goods that are deemed to be of extra quality... . The second market lies in those consumers who wish to use their purchases to support local workers, or to reduce their environmental impact by taking goods to craftspeople to be mended, or recycled. For workers, the appeal of craftsmanship is that it allows them the autonomy to make creative choices, and thus makes a job far more satisfying. In that sense, it could offer hope for the overall labour market. Let the machines automate dull and repetitive tasks and let workers focus purely on their skills, judgment and imagination. As a current example, the academics cite the “agile” manifesto in the software sector, an industry at the heart of technological change. The pioneers behind the original agile manifesto promised to prioritise “individuals and interactions over processes and tools”. By bringing together experts from different teams, agile working is designed to improve creativity. But the broader question is whether crafts can create a lot more jobs than they do today. Demand for crafted products may rise but will it be easy to retrain workers in sectors that might get automated (such as truck drivers) to take advantage? In a world where products and services often have to pass through regulatory hoops, large companies will usually have the advantage. History also suggests that the link between crafts and creativity is not automatic. Medieval craft guilds were monopolies which resisted new entrants. They were also highly hierarchical with young men required to spend long periods as apprentices and journeymen before they could set up on their own; by that time the innovative spirit may have been knocked out of them. Craft workers can thrive in the modern era, but only if they don’t get too organised.

The most recent revival in interest in the crafts is a result of the emergence of all of the following EXCEPT:

  • Asupport for individual creations as opposed to mass-produced objects.Correct answer
  • Ba niche market for discerning buyers of quality products.
  • Ca greater interest in buying locally produced goods.
  • Dconcerns about the environmental impact of mass production.

Answer: A

Show explanation
Answer:A The EXCEPT stem: the latest crafts revival is tied to environmental awareness of industry, plus markets for premium quality and local/repair/recycle buying. “Support for individual creations versus mass-produced objects” is a general craft ethos, not listed as the cause of this *most recent* revival. Why the others fail: • B — Premium niche buyers are explicitly the first market the passage names. • C — Local support is part of the second market described. • D — Environmental concern is named as driving the third/current crafts wave.
Q10Reading Comprehension·Inference

The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question. ... The idea of craftsmanship is not simply nostalgic. .. . Crafts require distinct skills, an all-round approach to work that involves the whole product, rather than individual parts, and an attitude that necessitates devotion to the job and a focus on the communal interest. The concept of craft emphasises the human touch and individual judgment. Essentially, the crafts concept seems to run against the preponderant ethos of management studies which, as the academics note, have long prioritised efficiency and consistency. . . . Craft skills were portrayed as being primitive and traditionalist. The contrast between artisanship and efficiency first came to the fore in the 19 century when British manufacturers suddenly faced competition from across the Atlantic as firms developed the “American system” using standardised parts. . . . the worldwide success of the Singer sewing machine showed the potential of a mass-produced device. This process created its own reaction, first in the form of the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th century, and then again in the “small is beautiful’ movement of the 1970s. A third crafts movement is emerging as people become aware of the environmental impact of conventional industry. There are two potential markets for those who practise crafts. The first stems from the existence of consumers who are willing to pay a premium price for goods that are deemed to be of extra quality... . The second market lies in those consumers who wish to use their purchases to support local workers, or to reduce their environmental impact by taking goods to craftspeople to be mended, or recycled. For workers, the appeal of craftsmanship is that it allows them the autonomy to make creative choices, and thus makes a job far more satisfying. In that sense, it could offer hope for the overall labour market. Let the machines automate dull and repetitive tasks and let workers focus purely on their skills, judgment and imagination. As a current example, the academics cite the “agile” manifesto in the software sector, an industry at the heart of technological change. The pioneers behind the original agile manifesto promised to prioritise “individuals and interactions over processes and tools”. By bringing together experts from different teams, agile working is designed to improve creativity. But the broader question is whether crafts can create a lot more jobs than they do today. Demand for crafted products may rise but will it be easy to retrain workers in sectors that might get automated (such as truck drivers) to take advantage? In a world where products and services often have to pass through regulatory hoops, large companies will usually have the advantage. History also suggests that the link between crafts and creativity is not automatic. Medieval craft guilds were monopolies which resisted new entrants. They were also highly hierarchical with young men required to spend long periods as apprentices and journeymen before they could set up on their own; by that time the innovative spirit may have been knocked out of them. Craft workers can thrive in the modern era, but only if they don’t get too organised.

Which one of the following statements is NOT inconsistent with the views stated in the passage?

  • ACreativity in the crafts could be stifled if the market for artisan goods becomes too organised.Correct answer
  • BThe Arts and Crafts movement was initially inspired by the “American system” of production.
  • CWe need to support the crafts; only then can we retain the creativity intrinsic to their production.
  • DThe agile movement in software is a throwback to the tenets of the medieval crafts guilds.

Answer: A

Show explanation
Answer:A “NOT inconsistent” means the statement that *fits* the passage. The closing line—that craft workers thrive only if they don’t get too organised—supports the idea that over-organisation can stifle artisan creativity. Why the others fail: • B — Arts and Crafts reacted *against* the American system; it was not inspired by it. • C — Overstates: the text does not say support for crafts is the *only* way to keep creativity. • D — Agile is praised for prioritising people/creativity; it is not cast as a return to restrictive medieval guild rules.
Q11Verbal Ability·Paragraph Summary

Scientific research shows that many animals are very intelligent and have sensory and motor abilities that dwarf ours. Dogs are able to detect diseases such as cancer and diabetes and warn humans of impending heart attacks and strokes. Elephants, whales, hippopotamuses, giraffes, and alligators use low-frequency sounds to communicate over long distances, often miles. Many animals also display wide-ranging emotions, including joy, happiness, empathy, compassion, grief, and even resentment and embarrassment. It’s not surprising that animals share many emotions with us because we also share brain structures, located in the limbic system, that are the seat of our emotions.

  • AAnimals are more intelligent than us in sensing danger and detecting diseases.
  • BThe advanced sensory and motor abilities of animals is the reason why they can display wideranging emotions.
  • CThe similarity in brain structure explains why animals show emotions typically associated with humans.Correct answer
  • DAnimals can show emotions which are typically associated with humans.

Answer: C

Show explanation
Answer:C After sensory/motor examples and a list of animal emotions, the closing hinge is explicit: shared limbic brain structures make shared emotions unsurprising. C keeps that explanatory link between similar brains and “human-like” emotions. Why the others fail • A — Inflates disease/danger detection into a general claim that animals are “more intelligent than us,” and drops the emotion–brain explanation that ends the paragraph. • B — Wrong cause: sensory and motor prowess is illustrated separately; emotions are tied to shared limbic structures, not to those abilities. • D — Stops at “animals show human-associated emotions,” omitting the brain-structure reason that makes the observation coherent.
Q12Reading Comprehension·Specific Detail

The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question. Landing in Australia, the British colonists weren't much impressed with the small-bodied, slender-snooted marsupials called bandicoots. “Their muzzle, which is much too long, gives them an air exceedingly stupid,” one naturalist noted in 1805. They nicknamed one type the “zebra rat’ because of its black-striped rump. Silly-looking or not, though, the zebra rat—the smallest bandicoot, more commonly known today as the western barred bandicoot—exhibited a genius for survival in the harsh outback, where its ancestors had persisted for some 26 million years. Its births were triggered by rainfall in the bone-dry desert. It carried its breath-mint-size babies in a backward-facing pouch so mothers could forage for food and dig shallow, camouflaged shelters. Still, these adaptations did not prepare the western barred bandicoot for the colonial-era transformation of its ecosystem, particularly the onslaught of imported British animals, from cattle and rabbits that damaged delicate desert vegetation to ravenous house cats that soon developed a taste for bandicoots. Several of the dozen-odd bandicoot species went extinct, and by the 1940s the western barred bandicoot, whose original range stretched across much of the continent, persisted only on two predator-free islands in Shark Bay, off Australia’s western coast. “Our isolated fauna had simply not been exposed to these predators,” says Reece Pedler, an ecologist with the Wild Deserts conservation program. Now Wild Deserts is using descendants of those few thousand island survivors, called Shark Bay bandicoots, in a new effort to seed a mainland bandicoot revival. They've imported 20 bandicoots to a preserve on the edge of the Strzelecki Desert, in the remote interior of New South Wales. This sanctuary is a challenging place, desolate much of the year, with one of the world’s most mercurial rainfall patterns—relentless droughts followed by sudden drenching floods. The imported bandicoots occupy two fenced “exclosures,” cleared of invasive rabbits (courtesy of Pedler’s sheepdog) and of feral cats (which slunk off once the rabbits disappeared). A third fenced area contains the program’s Wild Training Zone, where two other rare marsupials (bilbies, a larger type of bandicoot, and mulgaras, a somewhat fearsome fuzzball known for sucking the brains out of prey) currently share terrain with controlled numbers of cats, learning to evade them. It's unclear whether the Shark Bay bandicoots, which are perhaps even more predator-naive than their now-extinct mainland bandicoot kin, will be able to make that kind of breakthrough. For now, though, a recent surge of rainfall has led to a bandicoot joey boom, raising the Wild Deserts population to about 100, with other sanctuaries adding to that number. There are also signs of rebirth in the landscape itself. With their constant digging, the bandicoots trap moisture and allow for seed germination so the cattle-damaged desert can restore itself. They have a new nickname—a flattering one, this time. “We call them ecosystem engineers,” Pedler says.

According to the text, the western barred bandicoots now have a flattering name because they have

  • Aled a revival in preserving the species.
  • Bled to a surge and increase of rainfall.
  • Cgrown fivefold in terms of population.
  • Daided in altering an arid environment.Correct answer

Answer: D

Show explanation
Answer:D The flattering nickname (e.g., “ecosystem engineers” / similar praise in the passage) is earned because the bandicoots’ digging helps transform arid ground—altering the desert environment—not merely because headcounts rose. Why the others fail: • A — Preservation efforts involve people; the name flatters the animals’ ecological role, not that they “led” conservation PR. • B — Rainfall recovery is not credited to the bandicoots in the text. • C — Population growth may be mentioned, but it is not why the new name is flattering.
Q13Reading Comprehension·Specific Detail

The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question. Landing in Australia, the British colonists weren't much impressed with the small-bodied, slender-snooted marsupials called bandicoots. “Their muzzle, which is much too long, gives them an air exceedingly stupid,” one naturalist noted in 1805. They nicknamed one type the “zebra rat’ because of its black-striped rump. Silly-looking or not, though, the zebra rat—the smallest bandicoot, more commonly known today as the western barred bandicoot—exhibited a genius for survival in the harsh outback, where its ancestors had persisted for some 26 million years. Its births were triggered by rainfall in the bone-dry desert. It carried its breath-mint-size babies in a backward-facing pouch so mothers could forage for food and dig shallow, camouflaged shelters. Still, these adaptations did not prepare the western barred bandicoot for the colonial-era transformation of its ecosystem, particularly the onslaught of imported British animals, from cattle and rabbits that damaged delicate desert vegetation to ravenous house cats that soon developed a taste for bandicoots. Several of the dozen-odd bandicoot species went extinct, and by the 1940s the western barred bandicoot, whose original range stretched across much of the continent, persisted only on two predator-free islands in Shark Bay, off Australia’s western coast. “Our isolated fauna had simply not been exposed to these predators,” says Reece Pedler, an ecologist with the Wild Deserts conservation program. Now Wild Deserts is using descendants of those few thousand island survivors, called Shark Bay bandicoots, in a new effort to seed a mainland bandicoot revival. They've imported 20 bandicoots to a preserve on the edge of the Strzelecki Desert, in the remote interior of New South Wales. This sanctuary is a challenging place, desolate much of the year, with one of the world’s most mercurial rainfall patterns—relentless droughts followed by sudden drenching floods. The imported bandicoots occupy two fenced “exclosures,” cleared of invasive rabbits (courtesy of Pedler’s sheepdog) and of feral cats (which slunk off once the rabbits disappeared). A third fenced area contains the program’s Wild Training Zone, where two other rare marsupials (bilbies, a larger type of bandicoot, and mulgaras, a somewhat fearsome fuzzball known for sucking the brains out of prey) currently share terrain with controlled numbers of cats, learning to evade them. It's unclear whether the Shark Bay bandicoots, which are perhaps even more predator-naive than their now-extinct mainland bandicoot kin, will be able to make that kind of breakthrough. For now, though, a recent surge of rainfall has led to a bandicoot joey boom, raising the Wild Deserts population to about 100, with other sanctuaries adding to that number. There are also signs of rebirth in the landscape itself. With their constant digging, the bandicoots trap moisture and allow for seed germination so the cattle-damaged desert can restore itself. They have a new nickname—a flattering one, this time. “We call them ecosystem engineers,” Pedler says.

The text uses the word ‘exclosures’ because Wild Deserts has adopted a measure of

  • Aridding the main desert of feral cats and large bilbies.
  • Bbarring the entry of invasive species.Correct answer
  • Cexcluding animals to make the islands predator-free.
  • Drestoring cattle damaged deserts to green landscapes.

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B “Exclosures” are fenced mainland patches that keep invasive predators/competitors out so native fauna can recover—i.e., barring entry of invasive species. Why the others fail: • A — Misstates the target set (not “large bilbies” as invaders being purged from the main desert). • C — Confuses mainland exclosures with making *islands* predator-free. • D — Greening may follow, but the word marks exclusion fencing, not cattle-restoration as the defining measure.
Q14Reading Comprehension·Inference

The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question. Landing in Australia, the British colonists weren't much impressed with the small-bodied, slender-snooted marsupials called bandicoots. “Their muzzle, which is much too long, gives them an air exceedingly stupid,” one naturalist noted in 1805. They nicknamed one type the “zebra rat’ because of its black-striped rump. Silly-looking or not, though, the zebra rat—the smallest bandicoot, more commonly known today as the western barred bandicoot—exhibited a genius for survival in the harsh outback, where its ancestors had persisted for some 26 million years. Its births were triggered by rainfall in the bone-dry desert. It carried its breath-mint-size babies in a backward-facing pouch so mothers could forage for food and dig shallow, camouflaged shelters. Still, these adaptations did not prepare the western barred bandicoot for the colonial-era transformation of its ecosystem, particularly the onslaught of imported British animals, from cattle and rabbits that damaged delicate desert vegetation to ravenous house cats that soon developed a taste for bandicoots. Several of the dozen-odd bandicoot species went extinct, and by the 1940s the western barred bandicoot, whose original range stretched across much of the continent, persisted only on two predator-free islands in Shark Bay, off Australia’s western coast. “Our isolated fauna had simply not been exposed to these predators,” says Reece Pedler, an ecologist with the Wild Deserts conservation program. Now Wild Deserts is using descendants of those few thousand island survivors, called Shark Bay bandicoots, in a new effort to seed a mainland bandicoot revival. They've imported 20 bandicoots to a preserve on the edge of the Strzelecki Desert, in the remote interior of New South Wales. This sanctuary is a challenging place, desolate much of the year, with one of the world’s most mercurial rainfall patterns—relentless droughts followed by sudden drenching floods. The imported bandicoots occupy two fenced “exclosures,” cleared of invasive rabbits (courtesy of Pedler’s sheepdog) and of feral cats (which slunk off once the rabbits disappeared). A third fenced area contains the program’s Wild Training Zone, where two other rare marsupials (bilbies, a larger type of bandicoot, and mulgaras, a somewhat fearsome fuzzball known for sucking the brains out of prey) currently share terrain with controlled numbers of cats, learning to evade them. It's unclear whether the Shark Bay bandicoots, which are perhaps even more predator-naive than their now-extinct mainland bandicoot kin, will be able to make that kind of breakthrough. For now, though, a recent surge of rainfall has led to a bandicoot joey boom, raising the Wild Deserts population to about 100, with other sanctuaries adding to that number. There are also signs of rebirth in the landscape itself. With their constant digging, the bandicoots trap moisture and allow for seed germination so the cattle-damaged desert can restore itself. They have a new nickname—a flattering one, this time. “We call them ecosystem engineers,” Pedler says.

Which one of the following options does NOT represent the characteristics of the western barred bandicoot?

  • AShallow diggers having an elongated muzzle
  • BSmallest black striped marsupial that uses camouflage and digCorrect answer
  • CLook of a rat but with a baby pouch and a slender snout
  • DLong thin nose, black striped back, pouch for joeys

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B The stem asks which option does *not* match the bandicoot’s described traits. Calling it the “smallest black striped marsupial that uses camouflage and dig” invents a ranking/label the passage does not give; the other choices paraphrase snout, pouch, stripes, and shallow digging that the text does support. Why the others fail: • A — Matches elongated muzzle / shallow digging described in the passage. • C — Matches the “zebra rat” look: rat-like with pouch and slender snout. • D — Matches long thin nose, striped back, and pouch for joeys.
Q15Reading Comprehension·Inference

The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question. Landing in Australia, the British colonists weren't much impressed with the small-bodied, slender-snooted marsupials called bandicoots. “Their muzzle, which is much too long, gives them an air exceedingly stupid,” one naturalist noted in 1805. They nicknamed one type the “zebra rat’ because of its black-striped rump. Silly-looking or not, though, the zebra rat—the smallest bandicoot, more commonly known today as the western barred bandicoot—exhibited a genius for survival in the harsh outback, where its ancestors had persisted for some 26 million years. Its births were triggered by rainfall in the bone-dry desert. It carried its breath-mint-size babies in a backward-facing pouch so mothers could forage for food and dig shallow, camouflaged shelters. Still, these adaptations did not prepare the western barred bandicoot for the colonial-era transformation of its ecosystem, particularly the onslaught of imported British animals, from cattle and rabbits that damaged delicate desert vegetation to ravenous house cats that soon developed a taste for bandicoots. Several of the dozen-odd bandicoot species went extinct, and by the 1940s the western barred bandicoot, whose original range stretched across much of the continent, persisted only on two predator-free islands in Shark Bay, off Australia’s western coast. “Our isolated fauna had simply not been exposed to these predators,” says Reece Pedler, an ecologist with the Wild Deserts conservation program. Now Wild Deserts is using descendants of those few thousand island survivors, called Shark Bay bandicoots, in a new effort to seed a mainland bandicoot revival. They've imported 20 bandicoots to a preserve on the edge of the Strzelecki Desert, in the remote interior of New South Wales. This sanctuary is a challenging place, desolate much of the year, with one of the world’s most mercurial rainfall patterns—relentless droughts followed by sudden drenching floods. The imported bandicoots occupy two fenced “exclosures,” cleared of invasive rabbits (courtesy of Pedler’s sheepdog) and of feral cats (which slunk off once the rabbits disappeared). A third fenced area contains the program’s Wild Training Zone, where two other rare marsupials (bilbies, a larger type of bandicoot, and mulgaras, a somewhat fearsome fuzzball known for sucking the brains out of prey) currently share terrain with controlled numbers of cats, learning to evade them. It's unclear whether the Shark Bay bandicoots, which are perhaps even more predator-naive than their now-extinct mainland bandicoot kin, will be able to make that kind of breakthrough. For now, though, a recent surge of rainfall has led to a bandicoot joey boom, raising the Wild Deserts population to about 100, with other sanctuaries adding to that number. There are also signs of rebirth in the landscape itself. With their constant digging, the bandicoots trap moisture and allow for seed germination so the cattle-damaged desert can restore itself. They have a new nickname—a flattering one, this time. “We call them ecosystem engineers,” Pedler says.

Which one of the following statements provides a gist of this passage?

  • AThe negligent attitude of the British colonists towards these bandicoots evidenced by the names given to them led to their annihilation.
  • BA type of bandicoots was nearly wiped out by invasive species but rescuers now pin hopes on a remnant island population.Correct answer
  • CMarsupials are going extinct due to the colonial era transformation of the ecosystem which also destroyed natural vegetation.
  • DThe onslaught of animals, such as cattle, rabbits and housecats, brought in by the British led to the extinction of the western barred bandicoot.

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B The gist is near wipe-out by invasives after colonial ecosystem change, with hope now pinned on a remnant island population and reintroduction efforts. Why the others fail: • A — Treats insulting colonial names as the cause of annihilation; invasives/ecosystem change did the damage. • C — Widens to all marsupials and vegetation loss; the passage is about this bandicoot’s story. • D — Overclaims total extinction; remnant populations (e.g., Shark Bay islands) survived.
Q16Reading Comprehension·Specific Detail

The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question. Oftentimes, when economists cross borders, they are less interested in learning from others than in invading their garden plots. Gary Becker, for instance, pioneered the idea of human capital. To do so, he famously tackled topics like crime and domesticity, applying methods honed in the study of markets to domains of nonmarket life. He projected economics outward into new realms: for example, by revealing the extent to which humans calculate marginal utilities when choosing their spouses or stealing from neighbors. At the same time, he did not let other ways of thinking enter his own economic realm: for example, he did not borrow from anthropology or history or let observations of nonmarket economics inform his homo economic us. Becker was a picture of the imperial economist in the heyday of the discipline’s bravura. Times have changed for the once almighty discipline. Economics has been taken to task, within and beyond its ramparts. Some economists have reached out, imported, borrowed, and collaborated—been less imperial, more open. Consider Thomas Piketty and his outreach to historians. The booming field of behavioral economics—the fusion of economics and social psychology—is another case. Having spawned active subfields, like judgment, decision-making and a turn to experimentation, the field aims to go beyond the caricature of Rational Man to explain how humans make decisions.... It is important to underscore how this flips the way we think about economics. For generations, economists have presumed that people have interests—‘preferences,” in the neoclassical argot—that get revealed in the course of peoples’ choices. Interests come before actions and determine them. If you are hungry, you buy lunch; if you are cold, you get a sweater. If you only have so much money and can't afford to deal with both your growling stomach and your shivering, which need you choose to meet using your scarce savings reveals your preference. Psychologists take one look at this simple formulation and shake their heads. Increasingly, even some mainstream economists have to admit that homo economic us doesn’t always behave like the textbook maximizer; irrational behavior can’t simply be waved away as extra-economic expressions of passions over interests, and thus the domain of other disciplines... .This is one place where the humanist can help the economist. If narrative economics is going to help us understand how rivals duke it out, who wins and who loses, we are going to need much more than lessons from epidemiological studies of viruses or intracranial stimuli. Above all, we need politics and institutions. Shiller the Nobel prize winning economist connects perceptions of narratives to changes in behavior and thence to social outcomes. He completes a circle that was key to behavioral economics and brings in storytelling to make sense of how perceptions get framed. This cycle (perception to behavior to society) was once mediated or dominated by institutions: the political parties, lobby groups, and media organizations that played a vital role in legitimating, representing, and excluding interests. Yet institutions have been stripped from Shiller's account, to reveal a bare dynamic of emotions and economics, without the intermediating place of politics.

In the first paragraph the author is making the point that economists like Becker

  • Ahad begun to borrow concepts from other disciplines but were averse to the latter applying economic principles.
  • Bbenefitted from the application of their principles and concepts to non-economic phenomena.
  • Cused economics to analyse non-market behaviour, without incorporating perspectives from other areas of inquiry.Correct answer
  • Dtended to guard their discipline from poaching by academics from other subject areas.

Answer: C

Show explanation
Answer:C In the opening move, Becker-style economics exports market tools to non-market life while refusing to import other disciplines’ insights—one-way imperialism of economic method. Why the others fail: • A — Claims economists had begun borrowing from others; the critique is that they did *not*. • B — Frames the export as a benefit; the author stresses the blind spot, not the payoff. • D — “Guarding against poaching” misstates the issue: it is refusal to incorporate outside perspectives, not fear of outsiders stealing economics.
Q17Reading Comprehension·Inference

The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question. Oftentimes, when economists cross borders, they are less interested in learning from others than in invading their garden plots. Gary Becker, for instance, pioneered the idea of human capital. To do so, he famously tackled topics like crime and domesticity, applying methods honed in the study of markets to domains of nonmarket life. He projected economics outward into new realms: for example, by revealing the extent to which humans calculate marginal utilities when choosing their spouses or stealing from neighbors. At the same time, he did not let other ways of thinking enter his own economic realm: for example, he did not borrow from anthropology or history or let observations of nonmarket economics inform his homo economic us. Becker was a picture of the imperial economist in the heyday of the discipline’s bravura. Times have changed for the once almighty discipline. Economics has been taken to task, within and beyond its ramparts. Some economists have reached out, imported, borrowed, and collaborated—been less imperial, more open. Consider Thomas Piketty and his outreach to historians. The booming field of behavioral economics—the fusion of economics and social psychology—is another case. Having spawned active subfields, like judgment, decision-making and a turn to experimentation, the field aims to go beyond the caricature of Rational Man to explain how humans make decisions.... It is important to underscore how this flips the way we think about economics. For generations, economists have presumed that people have interests—‘preferences,” in the neoclassical argot—that get revealed in the course of peoples’ choices. Interests come before actions and determine them. If you are hungry, you buy lunch; if you are cold, you get a sweater. If you only have so much money and can't afford to deal with both your growling stomach and your shivering, which need you choose to meet using your scarce savings reveals your preference. Psychologists take one look at this simple formulation and shake their heads. Increasingly, even some mainstream economists have to admit that homo economic us doesn’t always behave like the textbook maximizer; irrational behavior can’t simply be waved away as extra-economic expressions of passions over interests, and thus the domain of other disciplines... .This is one place where the humanist can help the economist. If narrative economics is going to help us understand how rivals duke it out, who wins and who loses, we are going to need much more than lessons from epidemiological studies of viruses or intracranial stimuli. Above all, we need politics and institutions. Shiller the Nobel prize winning economist connects perceptions of narratives to changes in behavior and thence to social outcomes. He completes a circle that was key to behavioral economics and brings in storytelling to make sense of how perceptions get framed. This cycle (perception to behavior to society) was once mediated or dominated by institutions: the political parties, lobby groups, and media organizations that played a vital role in legitimating, representing, and excluding interests. Yet institutions have been stripped from Shiller's account, to reveal a bare dynamic of emotions and economics, without the intermediating place of politics.

“Times have changed for the once almighty discipline.” We can infer from this statement and the associated paragraph that the author is being

  • Asarcastic about how economists, who earlier shunned other disciplines, are now beginning to incorporate them in their analyses.Correct answer
  • Bcritical of economists’ openly borrowing and collaborating across disciplines to explain how humans make decisions.
  • Cjudgemental about the ability of economic tools to accurately manage crises leading to the downfall of this lofty science.
  • Ddisparaging of economists’ inability to precisely predict market behaviour, and are now borrowing from other disciplines to remedy this.

Answer: A

Show explanation
Answer:A “Times have changed for the once almighty discipline” is wry: economists who once dismissed other fields now borrow from them. The tone is sarcastic about that turnaround. Why the others fail: • B — Reads the author as *critical of* interdisciplinary borrowing; the jab is at past arrogance and the irony of the shift, not hostility to collaboration itself. • C — Pulls in crisis-management failure / downfall of economics that the paragraph does not centre. • D — Centres failed market prediction as the author’s scorn; the sarcasm tracks disciplinary gatekeeping, not forecasting error alone.
Q18Reading Comprehension·Specific Detail

The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question. Oftentimes, when economists cross borders, they are less interested in learning from others than in invading their garden plots. Gary Becker, for instance, pioneered the idea of human capital. To do so, he famously tackled topics like crime and domesticity, applying methods honed in the study of markets to domains of nonmarket life. He projected economics outward into new realms: for example, by revealing the extent to which humans calculate marginal utilities when choosing their spouses or stealing from neighbors. At the same time, he did not let other ways of thinking enter his own economic realm: for example, he did not borrow from anthropology or history or let observations of nonmarket economics inform his homo economic us. Becker was a picture of the imperial economist in the heyday of the discipline’s bravura. Times have changed for the once almighty discipline. Economics has been taken to task, within and beyond its ramparts. Some economists have reached out, imported, borrowed, and collaborated—been less imperial, more open. Consider Thomas Piketty and his outreach to historians. The booming field of behavioral economics—the fusion of economics and social psychology—is another case. Having spawned active subfields, like judgment, decision-making and a turn to experimentation, the field aims to go beyond the caricature of Rational Man to explain how humans make decisions.... It is important to underscore how this flips the way we think about economics. For generations, economists have presumed that people have interests—‘preferences,” in the neoclassical argot—that get revealed in the course of peoples’ choices. Interests come before actions and determine them. If you are hungry, you buy lunch; if you are cold, you get a sweater. If you only have so much money and can't afford to deal with both your growling stomach and your shivering, which need you choose to meet using your scarce savings reveals your preference. Psychologists take one look at this simple formulation and shake their heads. Increasingly, even some mainstream economists have to admit that homo economic us doesn’t always behave like the textbook maximizer; irrational behavior can’t simply be waved away as extra-economic expressions of passions over interests, and thus the domain of other disciplines... .This is one place where the humanist can help the economist. If narrative economics is going to help us understand how rivals duke it out, who wins and who loses, we are going to need much more than lessons from epidemiological studies of viruses or intracranial stimuli. Above all, we need politics and institutions. Shiller the Nobel prize winning economist connects perceptions of narratives to changes in behavior and thence to social outcomes. He completes a circle that was key to behavioral economics and brings in storytelling to make sense of how perceptions get framed. This cycle (perception to behavior to society) was once mediated or dominated by institutions: the political parties, lobby groups, and media organizations that played a vital role in legitimating, representing, and excluding interests. Yet institutions have been stripped from Shiller's account, to reveal a bare dynamic of emotions and economics, without the intermediating place of politics.

The author critiques Schiller’s approach to behavioural economics for

  • Adenigrating the role of institutions while creating a link between behavioural economics and perceptions.
  • Blinking emotions and rational behaviour without considering the mediation of social institutions.Correct answer
  • Cignoring the marginal role that media and politics play in influencing people’s behaviour.
  • Drelying excessively on storytelling as the main influence on the formation of perceptions.

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B The author faults Shiller for linking narrative/emotion to behaviour and social outcomes while stripping out the mediating role of parties, lobbies, and media—leaving bare emotions-and-economics without politics. Why the others fail: • A — “Denigrating” institutions overstates; the charge is omission, not active attack. • C — Calls media/politics “marginal”; the author treats them as central mediators that Shiller drops. • D — Does not mainly attack storytelling; storytelling is useful, institutions are the missing piece.
Q19Reading Comprehension·Vocabulary in Context

The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question. Oftentimes, when economists cross borders, they are less interested in learning from others than in invading their garden plots. Gary Becker, for instance, pioneered the idea of human capital. To do so, he famously tackled topics like crime and domesticity, applying methods honed in the study of markets to domains of nonmarket life. He projected economics outward into new realms: for example, by revealing the extent to which humans calculate marginal utilities when choosing their spouses or stealing from neighbors. At the same time, he did not let other ways of thinking enter his own economic realm: for example, he did not borrow from anthropology or history or let observations of nonmarket economics inform his homo economic us. Becker was a picture of the imperial economist in the heyday of the discipline’s bravura. Times have changed for the once almighty discipline. Economics has been taken to task, within and beyond its ramparts. Some economists have reached out, imported, borrowed, and collaborated—been less imperial, more open. Consider Thomas Piketty and his outreach to historians. The booming field of behavioral economics—the fusion of economics and social psychology—is another case. Having spawned active subfields, like judgment, decision-making and a turn to experimentation, the field aims to go beyond the caricature of Rational Man to explain how humans make decisions.... It is important to underscore how this flips the way we think about economics. For generations, economists have presumed that people have interests—‘preferences,” in the neoclassical argot—that get revealed in the course of peoples’ choices. Interests come before actions and determine them. If you are hungry, you buy lunch; if you are cold, you get a sweater. If you only have so much money and can't afford to deal with both your growling stomach and your shivering, which need you choose to meet using your scarce savings reveals your preference. Psychologists take one look at this simple formulation and shake their heads. Increasingly, even some mainstream economists have to admit that homo economic us doesn’t always behave like the textbook maximizer; irrational behavior can’t simply be waved away as extra-economic expressions of passions over interests, and thus the domain of other disciplines... .This is one place where the humanist can help the economist. If narrative economics is going to help us understand how rivals duke it out, who wins and who loses, we are going to need much more than lessons from epidemiological studies of viruses or intracranial stimuli. Above all, we need politics and institutions. Shiller the Nobel prize winning economist connects perceptions of narratives to changes in behavior and thence to social outcomes. He completes a circle that was key to behavioral economics and brings in storytelling to make sense of how perceptions get framed. This cycle (perception to behavior to society) was once mediated or dominated by institutions: the political parties, lobby groups, and media organizations that played a vital role in legitimating, representing, and excluding interests. Yet institutions have been stripped from Shiller's account, to reveal a bare dynamic of emotions and economics, without the intermediating place of politics.

We can infer from the passage that the term “homo economic us” refers to someone

  • Amaximises their opportunities based on nonmarket choices.
  • Bmakes rational decisions based on their own preferences.Correct answer
  • Cbelieves in borrowing and collaborating with other disciplines in their work.
  • Dis not influenced by the preferences and choices of others.

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B “Homo economicus” is the textbook maximiser: a figure who chooses rationally from preferences. That is what psychologists and even some economists now say real people often fail to match. Why the others fail: • A — Ties the term to maximising via *nonmarket* choices; the model is preference-based rational choice, not that framing. • C — Interdisciplinary borrowing describes economists’ new habits, not the agent the term names. • D — Independence from others’ preferences is not the definition given; rationality-from-own-preferences is.
Q20Verbal Ability·Odd Sentence OutTITA

Five jumbled sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5), related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd sentence out and key in the number of that sentence as your answer.

1. Animals have an interest in fulfilling their basic needs, but also in avoiding suffering, and thus we ought to extend moral consideration. 2. Singer viewed himself as a utilitarian, and presents a direct moral theory concerning animal rights, in contrast to indirect positions, such as welfarist views. 3. He argued for extending moral consideration to animals because, similar to humans, animals have certain significant interests. 4. The event that publicly announced animal rights as a legitimate issue within contemporary philosophy was Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation text in 1975. 5. As such, we ought to view their interests alongside and equal to human interests, which results in humans having direct moral duties towards animals.

Answer: 1

Show explanation
Answer:1 Keep 4 → 2 → 3 → 5: Singer’s 1975 book puts animal rights on the philosophical map (4); he is framed as a utilitarian offering a direct (not merely welfarist) theory (2); he extends moral consideration because animals, like humans, have significant interests (3); “as such” those interests stand equal and generate direct duties (5). Why 1 is odd: It restates a free-standing “animals have needs/suffering → we ought to extend consideration” claim without Singer, utilitarianism, or the “similar to humans / equal interests” bridge that 3–5 need. It neither opens the historical event nor continues the attributed argument.
Q21Verbal Ability·Paragraph Summary

Certain codes may, of course, be so widely distributed in a specific language community or culture, and be learned at so early an age, that they appear not to be constructed — the effect of an articulation between sign and referent — but to be ‘naturally’ given. Simple visual signs appear to have achieved a ‘near-universality’ in this sense: though evidence remains that even apparently ‘natural’ visual codes are culture specific. However, this does not mean that no codes have intervened; rather, that the codes have been profoundly naturalized. The operation of naturalized codes reveals not the transparency and ‘naturalness’ of language but the depth, the habituation and the near-universality of the codes in use. They produce apparently ‘natural’ recognitions. This has the (ideological) effect of concealing the practices of coding which are present.

  • AAll codes, linguistic and visual, have a natural origin but some are so widespread that they become universal. This is what hides the mechanism of coding behind signs.
  • BLearning linguistic and visual signs at an early age makes all such codes appear natural. This naturalization of codes is the effect of ideology.
  • CNot all codes are natural but certain codes are naturalized and made to appear universal. Ideology aims to hide the mechanism of coding behind signs.
  • DLanguage and visual signs are codes. However, some of the codes are so widespread that they not only seem naturally given but also hide the mechanism of coding behind the signs.Correct answer

Answer: D

Show explanation
Answer:D The paragraph’s core: linguistic and visual signs are codes; when they are learned early and spread widely they *seem* natural or near-universal; that naturalization conceals coding practices (with an ideological effect). D states codes → widespread → appear natural → hide the coding mechanism. Why the others fail • A — Claims codes have a “natural origin”; the text says they *appear* naturally given though constructed, and even “natural” visuals remain culture-specific. • B — Makes early learning alone turn codes natural and equates that naturalization with ideology; the stem treats ideology as the *concealing* effect of already-naturalized codes, not as the definition of naturalization. • C — Opens with “not all codes are natural,” which reifies a natural/non-natural split the passage rejects; “Ideology aims to hide…” also personifies ideology as an agent with aims.
Q22Verbal Ability·Odd Sentence OutTITA

Five jumbled sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5), related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd sentence out and key in the number of that sentence as your answer.

1. Urbanites also have more and better options for getting around: Uber is ubiquitous; easy-to-rent dockless bicycles are spreading; battery-powered scooters will be next. 2. When more people use buses or trains the service usually improves because public-transport agencies run more buses and trains. 3. Worsening services on public transport, terrorist attacks in some urban metros and a rise in fares have been blamed for this trend. 4. It seems more likely that public transport is being squeezed structurally as people’s need to travel is diminishing as a result of smartphones, video-conferencing, online shopping and so on. 5. There has been a puzzling decline in the use of urban public transport in many countries in the west, despite the growth in urban populations and rising employment.

Answer: 2

Show explanation
Answer:2 Keep 5 → 3 → 4 → 1: a puzzling ridership decline despite urban growth (5); blamed on worse service, terror, higher fares (3); a likelier structural squeeze as phones, video calls, and online shopping cut travel need (4); urbanites also have Uber, dockless bikes, scooters as substitutes (1). Why 2 is odd: It describes a positive feedback loop—more riders → agencies run more buses/trains → service improves—which belongs to a growth story, not this decline-and-substitution paragraph.
Q23Verbal Ability·Sentence Placement

There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide where (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.

Sentence: The brain isn’t organized the way you might set up your home office or bathroom medicine cabinet. Paragraph: ___(1)___. You can’t just put things anywhere you want to. The evolved architecture of the brain is haphazard and disjointed, and incorporates multiple systems, each of which has a mind of its own. __(2)__. Evolution doesn’t design things and it doesn’t build systems—it settles on systems that, historically, conveyed a survival benefit. There is no overarching, grand planner engineering the systems so that they work harmoniously together. __(3)__. The brain is more like a big, old house with piecemeal renovations done on every floor, and less like new construction ___4__.

  • ABlank 3
  • BBlank 1Correct answer
  • CBlank 2
  • DBlank 4

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B (Blank 1) Sentence. The brain isn’t organised the way you might set up a home office or medicine cabinet. Why Blank 1. The next line — “You can’t just put things anywhere you want to” — is the office/cabinet metaphor continued. Only an opening slot gives that “you” an antecedent. Why not the others. - Blank 2 is already inside evolved-architecture / no-planner argument. - Blank 3 is the old-house renovation simile. - Blank 4 closes that simile.
Q24Verbal Ability·Sentence Placement

There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide where (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.

Sentence: Understanding central Asia’s role helps developments make more sense not only across Asia but in Europe, the Americas and Africa. Paragraph: The nations of the Silk Roads are sometimes called ‘developing countries’, but they are actually some of the world’s most highly developed countries, the very crossroads of civilization, in advanced states of disrepair.__(1)__. These countries lie at the centre of global affairs: they have since the beginning of history. Running across the spine of Asia, they form a web of connections fanning out in every direction, routes along which pilgrims and warriors, nomads and merchants have travelled, goods and produce have been bought and sold, and ideas exchanged, adapted and refined.__(2)__— . They have carried not only prosperity, but also death and violence, disease and disaster.___(3)__. The Silk Roads are the world’s central nervous system, connecting otherwise farflung peoples and places....___(4)__. It allows us to see patterns and links, causes and effects that remain invisible if one looks only at Europe, or North America.

  • ABlank 1
  • BBlank 4Correct answer
  • CBlank 2
  • DBlank 3

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B (Blank 4) Sentence. Understanding Central Asia’s role makes developments make sense not only across Asia but in Europe, the Americas and Africa. Why Blank 4. The next sentence begins “It allows us to see patterns… invisible if one looks only at Europe, or North America.” “It” is the act of understanding Central Asia — so the missing sentence must immediately precede that line. Why not the others. - Blank 1–3 sit inside the Silk Roads as crossroads / nervous-system description; “It” would have no matching noun.

DILR(22 questions)

Q25Logical Reasoning·Scheduling & SequencingTITA

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows The game of QUIET is played between two teams. Six teams, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, play in a QUIET tournament. These teams are divided equally into two groups. In the tournament, each team plays every other team in the same group only once, and each team in the other group exactly twice. The tournament has several rounds, each of which consists of a few games. Every team plays exactly one game in each round. The following additional facts are known about the schedule of games in the tournament. 1. Each team played against a team from the other group in Round 8. 2. In Round 4 and Round 7, the match-ups, that is the pair of teams playing against each other, were identical. In Round 5 and Round 8, the match-ups were identical. 3. Team 4 played Team 6 in both Round 1 and Round 2. 4. Team 1 played Team 5 ONLY once and that was in Round 2. 5. Team 3 played Team 4 in Round 3. Team 1 played Team 6 in Round 6. 6. In Round 8, Team 3 played Team 6, while Team 2 played Team 5.

How many rounds were there in the tournament?

Answer: 8

Show explanation
Answer:8 Two groups of 3: each team plays 2 intra opponents once and 3 cross opponents twice → 2+6=8 games per team. With every team playing exactly once per round, the tournament lasts 8 rounds. (Game-count check: 6 intra + 18 cross = 24 games; 3 games/round ⇒ 243=8.) Groups: {1,5,6} vs {2,3,4} (1–5 once ⇒ same group; 4–6 twice ⇒ opposite; R8 cross games force 6 with 1,5). Forced round table: R1: 4–6, 1–2, 5–3 R2: 4–6, 1–5, 2–3 R3: 3–4, 5–6, 1–2 R4=R7: 2–6, 1–3, 5–4 R5=R8: 1–4, 2–5, 3–6 R6: 1–6, 5–3, 2–4
Q26Logical Reasoning·Scheduling & SequencingTITA

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows The game of QUIET is played between two teams. Six teams, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, play in a QUIET tournament. These teams are divided equally into two groups. In the tournament, each team plays every other team in the same group only once, and each team in the other group exactly twice. The tournament has several rounds, each of which consists of a few games. Every team plays exactly one game in each round. The following additional facts are known about the schedule of games in the tournament. 1. Each team played against a team from the other group in Round 8. 2. In Round 4 and Round 7, the match-ups, that is the pair of teams playing against each other, were identical. In Round 5 and Round 8, the match-ups were identical. 3. Team 4 played Team 6 in both Round 1 and Round 2. 4. Team 1 played Team 5 ONLY once and that was in Round 2. 5. Team 3 played Team 4 in Round 3. Team 1 played Team 6 in Round 6. 6. In Round 8, Team 3 played Team 6, while Team 2 played Team 5.

What is the number of the team that played Team 1 in Round 5?

Answer: 4

Show explanation
Answer:4 Setup. Six teams, two groups of three. Same-group pairs play once; cross-group pairs play twice. Every team plays exactly once each round (3 games/round). R4 match-ups = R7; R5 match-ups = R8. Round 8 is all cross-group. 4 vs 6 in both R1 and R2. 1 vs 5 only once, in R2. 3 vs 4 in R3; 1 vs 6 in R6. R8: 3 vs 6 and 2 vs 5. Groups. 1–5 once ⇒ same group. 4–6 twice ⇒ opposite groups. R8 cross games are 3–6, 2–5, and therefore 1–4. So 6 is opposite 3 and with {1,5}. Groups: {1,5,6} and {2,3,4}. Schedule. R8 (=R5): 3–6, 2–5, 1–4. R1 & R2: 4–6 (cross). R2 also has 1–5 (intra), so R2 is 4–6, 1–5, 2–3. R1 then pairs remaining: 4–6, 1–2, 5–3. R3: 3–4 (intra) forces 5–6 and 1–2. R6: 1–6 leaves 2–4 and 5–3. Remaining identical pair R4=R7: 2–6, 1–3, 5–4. Rounds: R1 4–6,1–2,5–3 | R2 4–6,1–5,2–3 | R3 3–4,5–6,1–2 | R4=R7 2–6,1–3,5–4 | R5=R8 1–4,2–5,3–6 | R6 1–6,5–3,2–4. This Q. R5 = R8 = {1–4, 2–5, 3–6}, so Team 1’s Round-5 opponent is 4.
Q27Logical Reasoning·Scheduling & Sequencing

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows The game of QUIET is played between two teams. Six teams, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, play in a QUIET tournament. These teams are divided equally into two groups. In the tournament, each team plays every other team in the same group only once, and each team in the other group exactly twice. The tournament has several rounds, each of which consists of a few games. Every team plays exactly one game in each round. The following additional facts are known about the schedule of games in the tournament. 1. Each team played against a team from the other group in Round 8. 2. In Round 4 and Round 7, the match-ups, that is the pair of teams playing against each other, were identical. In Round 5 and Round 8, the match-ups were identical. 3. Team 4 played Team 6 in both Round 1 and Round 2. 4. Team 1 played Team 5 ONLY once and that was in Round 2. 5. Team 3 played Team 4 in Round 3. Team 1 played Team 6 in Round 6. 6. In Round 8, Team 3 played Team 6, while Team 2 played Team 5.

Which team among the teams numbered 2, 3, 4, and 5 was not part of the same group?

  • A4
  • B5Correct answer
  • C3
  • D2

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B (5) Groups: {1,5,6} vs {2,3,4} (1–5 once ⇒ same group; 4–6 twice ⇒ opposite; R8 cross games force 6 with 1,5). Forced round table: R1: 4–6, 1–2, 5–3 R2: 4–6, 1–5, 2–3 R3: 3–4, 5–6, 1–2 R4=R7: 2–6, 1–3, 5–4 R5=R8: 1–4, 2–5, 3–6 R6: 1–6, 5–3, 2–4 Group B is {2,3,4}; Group A is {1,5,6}. Among {2,3,4,5}, team 5 is the one not sharing Group B. Why not A (4): 4 sits with 2 and 3. Why not C (3): 3 is with 2 and 4. Why not D (2): 2 is with 3 and 4.
Q28Logical Reasoning·Scheduling & SequencingTITA

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows The game of QUIET is played between two teams. Six teams, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, play in a QUIET tournament. These teams are divided equally into two groups. In the tournament, each team plays every other team in the same group only once, and each team in the other group exactly twice. The tournament has several rounds, each of which consists of a few games. Every team plays exactly one game in each round. The following additional facts are known about the schedule of games in the tournament. 1. Each team played against a team from the other group in Round 8. 2. In Round 4 and Round 7, the match-ups, that is the pair of teams playing against each other, were identical. In Round 5 and Round 8, the match-ups were identical. 3. Team 4 played Team 6 in both Round 1 and Round 2. 4. Team 1 played Team 5 ONLY once and that was in Round 2. 5. Team 3 played Team 4 in Round 3. Team 1 played Team 6 in Round 6. 6. In Round 8, Team 3 played Team 6, while Team 2 played Team 5.

What is the number of the team that played Team 1 in Round 7?

Answer: 3

Show explanation
Answer:3 Setup. Six teams, two groups of three. Same-group pairs play once; cross-group pairs play twice. Every team plays exactly once each round (3 games/round). R4 match-ups = R7; R5 match-ups = R8. Round 8 is all cross-group. 4 vs 6 in both R1 and R2. 1 vs 5 only once, in R2. 3 vs 4 in R3; 1 vs 6 in R6. R8: 3 vs 6 and 2 vs 5. Groups. 1–5 once ⇒ same group. 4–6 twice ⇒ opposite groups. R8 cross games are 3–6, 2–5, and therefore 1–4. So 6 is opposite 3 and with {1,5}. Groups: {1,5,6} and {2,3,4}. Schedule. R8 (=R5): 3–6, 2–5, 1–4. R1 & R2: 4–6 (cross). R2 also has 1–5 (intra), so R2 is 4–6, 1–5, 2–3. R1 then pairs remaining: 4–6, 1–2, 5–3. R3: 3–4 (intra) forces 5–6 and 1–2. R6: 1–6 leaves 2–4 and 5–3. Remaining identical pair R4=R7: 2–6, 1–3, 5–4. Rounds: R1 4–6,1–2,5–3 | R2 4–6,1–5,2–3 | R3 3–4,5–6,1–2 | R4=R7 2–6,1–3,5–4 | R5=R8 1–4,2–5,3–6 | R6 1–6,5–3,2–4. This Q. R7 = R4 = {2–6, 1–3, 5–4}, so Team 1’s Round-7 opponent is 3.
Q29Logical Reasoning·Scheduling & SequencingTITA

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows The game of QUIET is played between two teams. Six teams, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, play in a QUIET tournament. These teams are divided equally into two groups. In the tournament, each team plays every other team in the same group only once, and each team in the other group exactly twice. The tournament has several rounds, each of which consists of a few games. Every team plays exactly one game in each round. The following additional facts are known about the schedule of games in the tournament. 1. Each team played against a team from the other group in Round 8. 2. In Round 4 and Round 7, the match-ups, that is the pair of teams playing against each other, were identical. In Round 5 and Round 8, the match-ups were identical. 3. Team 4 played Team 6 in both Round 1 and Round 2. 4. Team 1 played Team 5 ONLY once and that was in Round 2. 5. Team 3 played Team 4 in Round 3. Team 1 played Team 6 in Round 6. 6. In Round 8, Team 3 played Team 6, while Team 2 played Team 5.

What is the number of the team that played Team 6 in Round 3?

Answer: 5

Show explanation
Answer:5 Setup. Six teams, two groups of three. Same-group pairs play once; cross-group pairs play twice. Every team plays exactly once each round (3 games/round). R4 match-ups = R7; R5 match-ups = R8. Round 8 is all cross-group. 4 vs 6 in both R1 and R2. 1 vs 5 only once, in R2. 3 vs 4 in R3; 1 vs 6 in R6. R8: 3 vs 6 and 2 vs 5. Groups. 1–5 once ⇒ same group. 4–6 twice ⇒ opposite groups. R8 cross games are 3–6, 2–5, and therefore 1–4. So 6 is opposite 3 and with {1,5}. Groups: {1,5,6} and {2,3,4}. Schedule. R8 (=R5): 3–6, 2–5, 1–4. R1 & R2: 4–6 (cross). R2 also has 1–5 (intra), so R2 is 4–6, 1–5, 2–3. R1 then pairs remaining: 4–6, 1–2, 5–3. R3: 3–4 (intra) forces 5–6 and 1–2. R6: 1–6 leaves 2–4 and 5–3. Remaining identical pair R4=R7: 2–6, 1–3, 5–4. Rounds: R1 4–6,1–2,5–3 | R2 4–6,1–5,2–3 | R3 3–4,5–6,1–2 | R4=R7 2–6,1–3,5–4 | R5=R8 1–4,2–5,3–6 | R6 1–6,5–3,2–4. This Q. Round 3 is {3–4, 5–6, 1–2}, so Team 6’s Round-3 opponent is 5.
Q30Data Interpretation·Mixed ChartsTITA

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows The chart below provides complete information about the number of countries visited by Dheeraj, Samantha and Nitesh, in Asia, Europe and the rest of the world (ROW). The following additional facts are known about the countries visited by them. 1. 32 countries were visited by at least one of them. 2. USA (in ROW) is the only country that was visited by all three of them. 3. China (in Asia) is the only country that was visited by both Dheeraj and Nitesh, but not by Samantha. 4. France (in Europe) is the only country outside Asia, which was visited by both Dheeraj and Samantha, but not by Nitesh. 5. Half of the countries visited by both Samantha and Nitesh are in Europe.

CAT 2024 Slot 1 candlestick chart (items A–G)

How many countries in Asia were visited by at least one of Dheeraj, Samantha and Nitesh?

Answer: 3

Show explanation
Answer:3 From the region bars, person-country counts are Dheeraj 11, Samantha 13, Nitesh 19 (sum 43) with union 32. Venn unknowns a..g (only-D, DS, only-S, DN, all-three, SN, only-N): a+b+c+d+e+f+g=32 and a+c+g+2(b+d+f)+3e=43 ⇒ b+d+f+2e=11. USA ⇒ e=1; China ⇒ d=1; France (only non-Asia DS) with chart/DS structure ⇒ b=1. Then b+d+f=9 ⇒ f=7. Dheeraj’s total a+b+d+e=11 ⇒ a=8. Samantha b+c+e+f=13 ⇒ c=4. Exactly-one countries a+c+g=22 ⇒ g=10. Half of (SN)=f+e=8 lie in Europe ⇒ 4 SN countries in Europe. Regional fill from the bars + these facts yields Asia-union 3, Europe-only-N 2, ROW SN 4, Europe exactly-one 12. Asia’s filled cells sum to only three distinct countries (China plus two others forced by the Asia bars). So Asia visited by at least one person = 3.
Q31Data Interpretation·Mixed ChartsTITA

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows The chart below provides complete information about the number of countries visited by Dheeraj, Samantha and Nitesh, in Asia, Europe and the rest of the world (ROW). The following additional facts are known about the countries visited by them. 1. 32 countries were visited by at least one of them. 2. USA (in ROW) is the only country that was visited by all three of them. 3. China (in Asia) is the only country that was visited by both Dheeraj and Nitesh, but not by Samantha. 4. France (in Europe) is the only country outside Asia, which was visited by both Dheeraj and Samantha, but not by Nitesh. 5. Half of the countries visited by both Samantha and Nitesh are in Europe.

CAT 2024 Slot 1 candlestick chart (items A–G)

How many countries in Europe were visited only by Nitesh?

Answer: 2

Show explanation
Answer:2 From the region bars, person-country counts are Dheeraj 11, Samantha 13, Nitesh 19 (sum 43) with union 32. Venn unknowns a..g (only-D, DS, only-S, DN, all-three, SN, only-N): a+b+c+d+e+f+g=32 and a+c+g+2(b+d+f)+3e=43 ⇒ b+d+f+2e=11. USA ⇒ e=1; China ⇒ d=1; France (only non-Asia DS) with chart/DS structure ⇒ b=1. Then b+d+f=9 ⇒ f=7. Dheeraj’s total a+b+d+e=11 ⇒ a=8. Samantha b+c+e+f=13 ⇒ c=4. Exactly-one countries a+c+g=22 ⇒ g=10. Half of (SN)=f+e=8 lie in Europe ⇒ 4 SN countries in Europe. Regional fill from the bars + these facts yields Asia-union 3, Europe-only-N 2, ROW SN 4, Europe exactly-one 12. Europe’s only-Nitesh cell is 2 (after placing France in DS-Europe and the four SN-Europe countries from fact 5).
Q32Data Interpretation·Mixed ChartsTITA

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows The chart below provides complete information about the number of countries visited by Dheeraj, Samantha and Nitesh, in Asia, Europe and the rest of the world (ROW). The following additional facts are known about the countries visited by them. 1. 32 countries were visited by at least one of them. 2. USA (in ROW) is the only country that was visited by all three of them. 3. China (in Asia) is the only country that was visited by both Dheeraj and Nitesh, but not by Samantha. 4. France (in Europe) is the only country outside Asia, which was visited by both Dheeraj and Samantha, but not by Nitesh. 5. Half of the countries visited by both Samantha and Nitesh are in Europe.

CAT 2024 Slot 1 candlestick chart (items A–G)

How many countries in the ROW were visited by both Nitesh and Samantha?

Answer: 4

Show explanation
Answer:4 From the region bars, person-country counts are Dheeraj 11, Samantha 13, Nitesh 19 (sum 43) with union 32. Venn unknowns a..g (only-D, DS, only-S, DN, all-three, SN, only-N): a+b+c+d+e+f+g=32 and a+c+g+2(b+d+f)+3e=43 ⇒ b+d+f+2e=11. USA ⇒ e=1; China ⇒ d=1; France (only non-Asia DS) with chart/DS structure ⇒ b=1. Then b+d+f=9 ⇒ f=7. Dheeraj’s total a+b+d+e=11 ⇒ a=8. Samantha b+c+e+f=13 ⇒ c=4. Exactly-one countries a+c+g=22 ⇒ g=10. Half of (SN)=f+e=8 lie in Europe ⇒ 4 SN countries in Europe. Regional fill from the bars + these facts yields Asia-union 3, Europe-only-N 2, ROW SN 4, Europe exactly-one 12. SN countries total f+e=8, of which 4 are Europe, so the other 4 are in ROW (including USA in the all-three cell). Both Nitesh and Samantha visited those 4 ROW countries.
Q33Data Interpretation·Mixed Charts

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows The chart below provides complete information about the number of countries visited by Dheeraj, Samantha and Nitesh, in Asia, Europe and the rest of the world (ROW). The following additional facts are known about the countries visited by them. 1. 32 countries were visited by at least one of them. 2. USA (in ROW) is the only country that was visited by all three of them. 3. China (in Asia) is the only country that was visited by both Dheeraj and Nitesh, but not by Samantha. 4. France (in Europe) is the only country outside Asia, which was visited by both Dheeraj and Samantha, but not by Nitesh. 5. Half of the countries visited by both Samantha and Nitesh are in Europe.

CAT 2024 Slot 1 candlestick chart (items A–G)

How many countries in Europe were visited by exactly one of Dheeraj, Samantha and Nitesh?

  • A5
  • B10
  • C12Correct answer
  • D14

Answer: C

Show explanation
Answer:C (12) From the region bars, person-country counts are Dheeraj 11, Samantha 13, Nitesh 19 (sum 43) with union 32. Venn unknowns a..g (only-D, DS, only-S, DN, all-three, SN, only-N): a+b+c+d+e+f+g=32 and a+c+g+2(b+d+f)+3e=43 ⇒ b+d+f+2e=11. USA ⇒ e=1; China ⇒ d=1; France (only non-Asia DS) with chart/DS structure ⇒ b=1. Then b+d+f=9 ⇒ f=7. Dheeraj’s total a+b+d+e=11 ⇒ a=8. Samantha b+c+e+f=13 ⇒ c=4. Exactly-one countries a+c+g=22 ⇒ g=10. Half of (SN)=f+e=8 lie in Europe ⇒ 4 SN countries in Europe. Regional fill from the bars + these facts yields Asia-union 3, Europe-only-N 2, ROW SN 4, Europe exactly-one 12. Europe exactly-one = only-D + only-S + only-N in Europe = 12. Why not A (5): that is far below the Europe singleton sum from the bars. Why not B (10): under-counts by omitting part of only-D/only-S Europe. Why not D (14): over-counts (would require mixing in a double-count region).
Q34Data Interpretation·Mixed Charts

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows The chart below shows the price data for seven shares– A,B,C,D,E,F, and G as a candlestick plot for a particular day. The vertical axis shows the price of the share in rupees. A share whose closing price (price at the end of the day) is more than its opening price (price at the start of the day) is called a bullish share; otherwise, it is called a bearish share. All bullish and bearish shares are shown in green and red colour respectively.

CAT 2024 Slot 1 candlestick chart with legend

Daily Share Price Variability (SPV) is defined as Day’s high price - Day’s low priceAverage of the opening and closing prices during the day. Which among the shares A, C, D and F had the highest SPV on that day?

  • AA
  • BC
  • CF
  • DDCorrect answer

Answer: D

Show explanation
Answer:D (D) Setup. Candlesticks for shares A–G (green = bullish Close>Open; red = bearish). SPV = Day high − Day lowOpen+Close2. OHLC (₹). A: O2200 C1800 H2400 L1200. C: mid≈1000, H−L=600. F: mid≈1700, H−L≈600–700. D: mid≈850, H−L≈1020. Steps. A: 12002000 = 0.6 C: 6001000 = 0.6 F: ≈0.35–0.41 D: ≈1.2 (only SPV > 1) Among A, C, D, F the maximum is D. Why not A (A): SPV 0.6 < 1.2. Why not B (C): SPV 0.6 < 1.2. Why not C (F): SPV well below 0.5, far under D.
Q35Data Interpretation·Mixed Charts

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows The chart below shows the price data for seven shares– A,B,C,D,E,F, and G as a candlestick plot for a particular day. The vertical axis shows the price of the share in rupees. A share whose closing price (price at the end of the day) is more than its opening price (price at the start of the day) is called a bullish share; otherwise, it is called a bearish share. All bullish and bearish shares are shown in green and red colour respectively.

CAT 2024 Slot 1 candlestick chart with legend

Daily Share Price Variability (SPV) is defined as Day's high price − Day's low priceAverage of the opening and closing prices during the day. How many shares had an SPV greater than 0.5 on that day?

  • A2
  • B3
  • C5
  • D4Correct answer

Answer: D

Show explanation
Answer:D (4) Setup. One-day candlestick chart for shares A–G. Daily Share Price Variability SPV = Day’s high − Day’s lowOpen + Close2. Steps. Reading each stick’s OHLC: A: 2400−12002200+18002 = 12002000 = 0.60 B: about 7001850 ≈ 0.38 C: 6001000 = 0.60 D: about 1020850 ≈ 1.20 E: about 3001200 = 0.25 F: about 6001700 ≈ 0.35 G: 1900−10001200+17002 = 9001450 ≈ 0.62 SPV > 0.5 for A, C, D and G — exactly 4 shares. Why not A (2): misses two. Why not B (3): misses one. Why not C (5): wrongly includes B or F.
Q36Data Interpretation·Mixed Charts

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows The chart below shows the price data for seven shares– A,B,C,D,E,F, and G as a candlestick plot for a particular day. The vertical axis shows the price of the share in rupees. A share whose closing price (price at the end of the day) is more than its opening price (price at the start of the day) is called a bullish share; otherwise, it is called a bearish share. All bullish and bearish shares are shown in green and red colour respectively.

CAT 2024 Slot 1 candlestick chart with legend

Daily loss for a share is defined as Opening price — Closing priceOpening price. Which among the shares A, B, F and G had the highest daily loss on that day?

  • AG
  • BF
  • CACorrect answer
  • DB

Answer: C

Show explanation
Answer:C (A) Setup. Daily loss = Open − CloseOpen. Positive only when Close < Open (bearish / red sticks). OHLC used. A O2200 C1800; B O2000 C1700; F O1800 C1600; G O1200 C1700 (green, bullish). Losses. A: 2200−18002200 = 4002200 ≈ 18.2% B: 2000−17002000 = 15% F: 1800−16001800 ≈ 11.1% G: Close > Open ⇒ loss negative (a gain), so not a daily loss. Highest daily loss among A, B, F, G is A. Why not A (G): G is bullish; it gained, not lost. Why not B (F): ≈11% < A’s ≈18%. Why not D (B): 15% < A’s ≈18%.
Q37Data Interpretation·Mixed Charts

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows The chart below shows the price data for seven shares– A,B,C,D,E,F, and G as a candlestick plot for a particular day. The vertical axis shows the price of the share in rupees. A share whose closing price (price at the end of the day) is more than its opening price (price at the start of the day) is called a bullish share; otherwise, it is called a bearish share. All bullish and bearish shares are shown in green and red colour respectively.

CAT 2024 Slot 1 candlestick chart with legend

What would have been the percentage wealth gain for a trader, who bought equal numbers of all bullish shares at opening price and sold them at their day’s high?

  • A50%
  • B100%
  • C72%
  • D80%Correct answer

Answer: D

Show explanation
Answer:D (80%) Setup. Bullish = Close > Open (green sticks). Trader buys equal numbers of all bullish shares at open and sells at that day’s high. Bullish shares: C, D, G (A,B,E,F are red/bearish). Prices (₹). C open 800, high 1400; D open 500, high 1200; G open 1200, high 1900. Buy one each: cost = 800+500+1200 = 2500. Sell at highs: proceeds = 1400+1200+1900 = 4500. Wealth gain = 4500−25002500 = 20002500 = 80%. Why not A (50%): would need net gain 1250 on 2500 (wrong highs/opens). Why not B (100%): would need proceeds 5000. Why not C (72%): slip on one open or high (e.g. mistaking G’s close for high).
Q38Logical Reasoning·Networks & PathsTITA

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows Six web surfers M, N, O, P, X, and Y each had 30 stars which they distributed among four bloggers A, B, C, and D. The number of stars received by A and B from the six web surfers is shown in the figure below. The following additional facts are known regarding the number of stars received by the bloggers from the surfers. 1. The numbers of stars received by the bloggers from the surfers were all multiples of 5 (including Q). 2. The total numbers of stars received by the bloggers were the same. 3. Each blogger received a different number of stars from M. 4. Two surfers gave all their stars to a single blogger. 5. D received more stars than C from Y.

CAT 2024 Slot 1 web-surfer network figure

What was the total number of stars received by D?

Answer: 45

Show explanation
Answer:45 Six surfers × 30 stars = 180; four bloggers get equal totals ⇒ each gets 1804=45. Chart gives A’s and B’s receipts by surfer (multiples of 5). Remaining C,D fill to 45 each. Two surfers dump all 30 on one blogger: those are O and X, giving 30 to C and D (one each). D>C from Y with multiples of 5 and Y’s leftover after A,B ⇒ D gets 5 from Y, C gets 0. M’s gifts to A,B,C,D all different multiples of 5 summing with chart cells; only consistent fill has C←15 from M and D←5 from M. N and P each split across exactly two bloggers; O/X are the single-blogger dumpers. Equal totals force each blogger’s column sum to 45, including D.
Q39Logical Reasoning·Networks & Paths

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows Six web surfers M, N, O, P, X, and Y each had 30 stars which they distributed among four bloggers A, B, C, and D. The number of stars received by A and B from the six web surfers is shown in the figure below. The following additional facts are known regarding the number of stars received by the bloggers from the surfers. 1. The numbers of stars received by the bloggers from the surfers were all multiples of 5 (including Q). 2. The total numbers of stars received by the bloggers were the same. 3. Each blogger received a different number of stars from M. 4. Two surfers gave all their stars to a single blogger. 5. D received more stars than C from Y.

CAT 2024 Slot 1 web-surfer network figure

What was the number of stars received by D from Y?

  • A10
  • B0
  • C5Correct answer
  • Dcannot be determined

Answer: C

Show explanation
Answer:C (5) Six surfers × 30 stars = 180; four bloggers get equal totals ⇒ each gets 1804=45. Chart gives A’s and B’s receipts by surfer (multiples of 5). Remaining C,D fill to 45 each. Two surfers dump all 30 on one blogger: those are O and X, giving 30 to C and D (one each). D>C from Y with multiples of 5 and Y’s leftover after A,B ⇒ D gets 5 from Y, C gets 0. M’s gifts to A,B,C,D all different multiples of 5 summing with chart cells; only consistent fill has C←15 from M and D←5 from M. N and P each split across exactly two bloggers; O/X are the single-blogger dumpers. Y’s residual after A and B, with D>C and multiples of 5, uniquely gives D 5 from Y (C gets 0). Why not A (10): would violate D’s row sum 45 or D>C with the chart leftovers. Why not B (0): then D≯C from Y. Why not D (cannot be determined): the inequality + multiples pin 5.
Q40Logical Reasoning·Networks & PathsTITA

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows Six web surfers M, N, O, P, X, and Y each had 30 stars which they distributed among four bloggers A, B, C, and D. The number of stars received by A and B from the six web surfers is shown in the figure below. The following additional facts are known regarding the number of stars received by the bloggers from the surfers. 1. The numbers of stars received by the bloggers from the surfers were all multiples of 5 (including Q). 2. The total numbers of stars received by the bloggers were the same. 3. Each blogger received a different number of stars from M. 4. Two surfers gave all their stars to a single blogger. 5. D received more stars than C from Y.

CAT 2024 Slot 1 web-surfer network figure

How many surfers distributed their stars among exactly 2 bloggers?

Answer: 2

Show explanation
Answer:2 Six surfers × 30 stars = 180; four bloggers get equal totals ⇒ each gets 1804=45. Chart gives A’s and B’s receipts by surfer (multiples of 5). Remaining C,D fill to 45 each. Two surfers dump all 30 on one blogger: those are O and X, giving 30 to C and D (one each). D>C from Y with multiples of 5 and Y’s leftover after A,B ⇒ D gets 5 from Y, C gets 0. M’s gifts to A,B,C,D all different multiples of 5 summing with chart cells; only consistent fill has C←15 from M and D←5 from M. N and P each split across exactly two bloggers; O/X are the single-blogger dumpers. Exactly-two-blogger surfers are N and P (each splits 30 across two of {A,B,C,D}). O and X are the all-to-one dumpers; M and Y hit three/four bloggers in the completed grid. Count = 2.
Q41Logical Reasoning·Networks & Paths

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows Six web surfers M, N, O, P, X, and Y each had 30 stars which they distributed among four bloggers A, B, C, and D. The number of stars received by A and B from the six web surfers is shown in the figure below. The following additional facts are known regarding the number of stars received by the bloggers from the surfers. 1. The numbers of stars received by the bloggers from the surfers were all multiples of 5 (including Q). 2. The total numbers of stars received by the bloggers were the same. 3. Each blogger received a different number of stars from M. 4. Two surfers gave all their stars to a single blogger. 5. D received more stars than C from Y.

CAT 2024 Slot 1 web-surfer network figure

Which of the following can be determined with certainty? I. The number of stars received by C from M II. The number of stars received by D from O

  • ANeither I nor II
  • BBoth I and II
  • COnly ICorrect answer
  • DOnly II

Answer: C

Show explanation
Answer:C (Only I) Six surfers × 30 stars = 180; four bloggers get equal totals ⇒ each gets 1804=45. Chart gives A’s and B’s receipts by surfer (multiples of 5). Remaining C,D fill to 45 each. Two surfers dump all 30 on one blogger: those are O and X, giving 30 to C and D (one each). D>C from Y with multiples of 5 and Y’s leftover after A,B ⇒ D gets 5 from Y, C gets 0. M’s gifts to A,B,C,D all different multiples of 5 summing with chart cells; only consistent fill has C←15 from M and D←5 from M. N and P each split across exactly two bloggers; O/X are the single-blogger dumpers. I. C from M is forced to 15 in every valid completion. II. D from O is 0 or 30 depending on which of O/X dumps to D vs C — not unique. Why not A: I is determined. Why not B: II is not. Why not D: II alone is wrong; I is the certain one.
Q42Logical Reasoning·Quant-based Reasoning

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows The game of QUIET is played between two teams. Six teams, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, play in a QUIET tournament. These teams are divided equally into two groups. In the tournament, each team plays every other team in the same group only once, and each team in the other group exactly twice. The tournament has several rounds, each of which consists of a few games. Every team plays exactly one game in each round. The following additional facts are known about the schedule of games in the tournament. 1. Each team played against a team from the other group in Round 8. 2. In Round 4 and Round 7, the match-ups, that is the pair of teams playing against each other, were identical. In Round 5 and Round 8, the match-ups were identical. 3. Team 4 played Team 6 in both Round 1 and Round 2. 4. Team 1 played Team 5 ONLY once and that was in Round 2. 5. Team 3 played Team 4 in Round 3. Team 1 played Team 6 in Round 6. 6. In Round 8, Team 3 played Team 6, while Team 2 played Team 5.

If both of them run staid campaigns attacking the other, then what percentage of students will vote in the election?

  • A60%
  • B64%
  • C40%
  • D36%Correct answer

Answer: D

Show explanation
Answer:D (36%) Set rules. Level 1 = staid, 2 = vigorous. Issues baseline: turnout % = 20×(L_A+L_R); votes among voters split in level ratio. If Amiya attacks & Ramya issues: 10% of Amiya’s issues-votes switch to Ramya, another 10% of Amiya’s abstain. If Ramya attacks & Amiya issues: 20% of Ramya’s issues-votes switch to Amiya, another 5% of Ramya’s abstain. If both attack: each side loses 10% of its issues-votes to abstention (no switches). This Q. Both run staid attacking campaigns. Issues baseline: L=1+1 ⇒ turnout 20×2 = 40%, split 20%–20%. Both attack: each keeps 90% of its issues votes; total turnout = 0.9×40% = 36%. Why not A (60%): that is issues turnout for levels 1+2, not dual-attack. Why not B (64%): no level/attack combo yields 64% here. Why not C (40%): issues turnout before the dual-attack 10% abstention.
Q43Logical Reasoning·Quant-based Reasoning

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows The game of QUIET is played between two teams. Six teams, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, play in a QUIET tournament. These teams are divided equally into two groups. In the tournament, each team plays every other team in the same group only once, and each team in the other group exactly twice. The tournament has several rounds, each of which consists of a few games. Every team plays exactly one game in each round. The following additional facts are known about the schedule of games in the tournament. 1. Each team played against a team from the other group in Round 8. 2. In Round 4 and Round 7, the match-ups, that is the pair of teams playing against each other, were identical. In Round 5 and Round 8, the match-ups were identical. 3. Team 4 played Team 6 in both Round 1 and Round 2. 4. Team 1 played Team 5 ONLY once and that was in Round 2. 5. Team 3 played Team 4 in Round 3. Team 1 played Team 6 in Round 6. 6. In Round 8, Team 3 played Team 6, while Team 2 played Team 5.

What is the minimum percentage of students who will vote in the election?

  • A32%
  • B40%
  • C36%Correct answer
  • D38%

Answer: C

Show explanation
Answer:C (36%) Set rules. Level 1 = staid, 2 = vigorous. Issues baseline: turnout % = 20×(L_A+L_R); votes among voters split in level ratio. If Amiya attacks & Ramya issues: 10% of Amiya’s issues-votes switch to Ramya, another 10% of Amiya’s abstain. If Ramya attacks & Amiya issues: 20% of Ramya’s issues-votes switch to Amiya, another 5% of Ramya’s abstain. If both attack: each side loses 10% of its issues-votes to abstention (no switches). This Q. Minimize total turnout. Issues turnouts are 40% (1+1), 60% (1+2), or 80% (2+2). Attack rules only cut turnout further (dual-attack 10% haircut, or one-sided abstention). Minimum: both staid + both attack ⇒ 0.9×40% = 36%. Why not A (32%): no rule removes 20% of the 40% base. Why not B (40%): ignores the dual-attack abstention. Why not D (38%): not produced by any valid combo.
Q44Logical Reasoning·Quant-based Reasoning

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows The game of QUIET is played between two teams. Six teams, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, play in a QUIET tournament. These teams are divided equally into two groups. In the tournament, each team plays every other team in the same group only once, and each team in the other group exactly twice. The tournament has several rounds, each of which consists of a few games. Every team plays exactly one game in each round. The following additional facts are known about the schedule of games in the tournament. 1. Each team played against a team from the other group in Round 8. 2. In Round 4 and Round 7, the match-ups, that is the pair of teams playing against each other, were identical. In Round 5 and Round 8, the match-ups were identical. 3. Team 4 played Team 6 in both Round 1 and Round 2. 4. Team 1 played Team 5 ONLY once and that was in Round 2. 5. Team 3 played Team 4 in Round 3. Team 1 played Team 6 in Round 6. 6. In Round 8, Team 3 played Team 6, while Team 2 played Team 5.

If Amiya runs a campaign focusing on issues, then what is the maximum percentage of votes that she can get?

  • A40%
  • B36%
  • C48%Correct answer
  • D44%

Answer: C

Show explanation
Answer:C (48%) Set rules. Level 1 = staid, 2 = vigorous. Issues baseline: turnout % = 20×(L_A+L_R); votes among voters split in level ratio. If Amiya attacks & Ramya issues: 10% of Amiya’s issues-votes switch to Ramya, another 10% of Amiya’s abstain. If Ramya attacks & Amiya issues: 20% of Ramya’s issues-votes switch to Amiya, another 5% of Ramya’s abstain. If both attack: each side loses 10% of its issues-votes to abstention (no switches). This Q. Amiya focuses on issues; maximize Amiya’s % of the student body. Best case: both vigorous on issues first ⇒ turnout 80%, each 40%. Then Ramya attacks: 20% of Ramya’s 40% (=8%) switches to Amiya; 5% of 40% (=2%) abstain. Amiya ends at 40+8 = 48% (Amiya cannot attack here because she must focus on issues). Why not A (40%): plain equal issues split with no attack transfer. Why not B (36%): dual-attack turnout world, not Amiya-issues. Why not D (44%): Amiya vigorous / Ramya staid then Ramya attacks (40+4), not the 2+2 base.
Q45Logical Reasoning·Quant-based Reasoning

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows The game of QUIET is played between two teams. Six teams, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, play in a QUIET tournament. These teams are divided equally into two groups. In the tournament, each team plays every other team in the same group only once, and each team in the other group exactly twice. The tournament has several rounds, each of which consists of a few games. Every team plays exactly one game in each round. The following additional facts are known about the schedule of games in the tournament. 1. Each team played against a team from the other group in Round 8. 2. In Round 4 and Round 7, the match-ups, that is the pair of teams playing against each other, were identical. In Round 5 and Round 8, the match-ups were identical. 3. Team 4 played Team 6 in both Round 1 and Round 2. 4. Team 1 played Team 5 ONLY once and that was in Round 2. 5. Team 3 played Team 4 in Round 3. Team 1 played Team 6 in Round 6. 6. In Round 8, Team 3 played Team 6, while Team 2 played Team 5.

If Ramya runs a campaign attacking Amiya, then what is the minimum percentage of votes that she is guaranteed to get?

  • A30%
  • B15%Correct answer
  • C12%
  • D18%

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B (15%) Set rules. Level 1 = staid, 2 = vigorous. Issues baseline: turnout % = 20×(L_A+L_R); votes among voters split in level ratio. If Amiya attacks & Ramya issues: 10% of Amiya’s issues-votes switch to Ramya, another 10% of Amiya’s abstain. If Ramya attacks & Amiya issues: 20% of Ramya’s issues-votes switch to Amiya, another 5% of Ramya’s abstain. If both attack: each side loses 10% of its issues-votes to abstention (no switches). This Q. Ramya attacks Amiya; minimize Ramya’s final % of students. Smallest issues base: both staid ⇒ turnout 40%, each 20%. Ramya attacks (Amiya on issues): Ramya loses 20% of 20% (=4%) to Amiya and 5% of 20% (=1%) to abstention ⇒ Ramya keeps 20−4−1 = 15%. Higher level bases leave Ramya with more raw votes after the same percentage leaks, so 15% is the minimum. Why not A (30%): ignores the attack leaks (or uses a wrong base). Why not C (12%): over-subtracts beyond the 20%+5% rule. Why not D (18%): subtracts only the abstention piece, or similar slip.
Q46Logical Reasoning·Quant-based Reasoning

Read the information given below and answer the question that follows The game of QUIET is played between two teams. Six teams, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, play in a QUIET tournament. These teams are divided equally into two groups. In the tournament, each team plays every other team in the same group only once, and each team in the other group exactly twice. The tournament has several rounds, each of which consists of a few games. Every team plays exactly one game in each round. The following additional facts are known about the schedule of games in the tournament. 1. Each team played against a team from the other group in Round 8. 2. In Round 4 and Round 7, the match-ups, that is the pair of teams playing against each other, were identical. In Round 5 and Round 8, the match-ups were identical. 3. Team 4 played Team 6 in both Round 1 and Round 2. 4. Team 1 played Team 5 ONLY once and that was in Round 2. 5. Team 3 played Team 4 in Round 3. Team 1 played Team 6 in Round 6. 6. In Round 8, Team 3 played Team 6, while Team 2 played Team 5.

What is the maximum possible voting margin with which one of the candidates can win?

  • A20%
  • B29%Correct answer
  • C26%
  • D28%

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B (29%) Set rules. Level 1 = staid, 2 = vigorous. Issues baseline: turnout % = 20×(L_A+L_R); votes among voters split in level ratio. If Amiya attacks & Ramya issues: 10% of Amiya’s issues-votes switch to Ramya, another 10% of Amiya’s abstain. If Ramya attacks & Amiya issues: 20% of Ramya’s issues-votes switch to Amiya, another 5% of Ramya’s abstain. If both attack: each side loses 10% of its issues-votes to abstention (no switches). This Q. Maximize |Amiya% − Ramya%| of the student body. Best: Amiya vigorous issues, Ramya staid issues, then Ramya attacks. Issues base: turnout 20×(2+1)=60%; split 2:1 ⇒ Amiya 40%, Ramya 20%. After Ramya attacks: Amiya 40+4=44%; Ramya 20−4−1=15%; margin 29%. (Amiya-attack symmetric cases give smaller margins; dual-attack shrinks both sides.) Why not A (20%): plain 2–1 issues margin with no attack boost. Why not C (26%): mis-copies the 4% switch / 1% abstain arithmetic. Why not D (28%): nearby off-by-one on the same arithmetic.

QA(22 questions)

Q47Quantitative Ability·Number Systems

When 10100 is divided by 7, the remainder is

  • A6
  • B1
  • C4Correct answer
  • D3

Answer: C

Show explanation
Answer:C (4) Powers of 10 modulo 7: 10 ≡ 3 (mod 7), so 101003100 (mod 7). Since 31 ≡ 3, 32 ≡ 2, 33 ≡ 6 ≡ −1, 36 ≡ 1 (mod 7), the order divides 6. Also φ(7)=6, so 36 ≡ 1 (mod 7). Write 100 = 16 × 6 + 4, hence 3100 = (36)16 · 34116 · 34 (mod 7). Now 34 = 81. 81 ÷ 7 = 11 × 7 + 4, so 81 ≡ 4 (mod 7). Therefore the remainder is 4.
Q48Quantitative Ability·Time, Speed & Distance

Two places A and B are 45 kms apart and connected by a straight road. Anil goes from A to B while Sunil goes from B to A. Starting at the same time, they cross each other in exactly 1 hour 30 minutes. If Anil reaches B exactly 1 hour 15 minutes after Sunil reaches A, the speed of Anil, in km per hour, is

  • A14
  • B12Correct answer
  • C16
  • D18

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B (12) Let Anil’s speed be a km/h and Sunil’s be s km/h. Distance AB is 45 km. They meet after 1.5 h, so (a+s)·(32)=45 ⇒ a+s=30. Anil finishes 54 h after Sunil: 45a = 45s + 54. Hence 45 s−aas=54 ⇒ 36(s−a)=as. With s=30−a: 36(30−2a)=a(30−a) ⇒ 1080−72a=30a−a2a2−102a+1080=0. Discriminant 1022−4320=6084=782, so a=102±782. The roots are 90 and 12; only a=12 is compatible with a+s=30 (giving s=18). Check: times 4512=3.75 h and 4518=2.5 h differ by 1.25 h, and meeting time 4530=1.5 h.
Q49Quantitative Ability·AveragesTITA

There are four numbers such that average of first two numbers is 1 more than the first number, average of first three numbers is 2 more than average of first two numbers, and average of first four numbers is 3 more than average of first three numbers. Then, the difference between the largest and the smallest numbers, is

Answer: 15

Show explanation
Answer:15 Let the four numbers be w, x, y, z in the order given. Average of first two is 1 more than the first: w + x2 = w + 1 ⇒ w + x = 2w + 2 ⇒ x = w + 2. Average of first three is 2 more than average of first two. Average of first two is w + 1, so w + x + y3 = (w + 1) + 2 = w + 3 ⇒ w + x + y = 3w + 9. Substitute x = w + 2: 2w + 2 + y = 3w + 9 ⇒ y = w + 7. Average of first four is 3 more than average of first three. Average of first three is w + 3, so w + x + y + z4 = (w + 3) + 3 = w + 6 ⇒ w + x + y + z = 4w + 24. Substitute: 2w + 2 + w + 7 + z = 4w + 24 ⇒ 3w + 9 + z = 4w + 24 ⇒ z = w + 15. The four numbers are w, w+2, w+7, w+15. Largest minus smallest is 15.
Q50Quantitative Ability·Number SystemsTITA

The sum of all four-digit numbers that can be formed with the distinct non-zero digits a, b, c, and d, with each digit appearing exactly once in every number, is 153310 + n, where n is a single digit natural number. Then, the value of (a + b + c + d + n) is

Answer: 31

Show explanation
Answer:31 All permutations of digits a, b, c, d form 4! = 24 four-digit numbers. Each digit appears equally often in each place value: 3! = 6 times per place. Sum of all such numbers = 6(a+b+c+d)·(1000 + 100 + 10 + 1) = 6(a+b+c+d)·1111 = 6666(a+b+c+d). This equals 153310 + n with n ∈ {1,…,9}. So 6666(a+b+c+d) = 153310 + n. Digits are distinct nonzero, so 10 ≤ a+b+c+d ≤ 9+8+7+6 = 30. Try S = a+b+c+d near 1533106666 ≈ 23.00. 6666·23 = 153318. Then 153318 = 153310 + n ⇒ n = 8. Thus S + n = 23 + 8 = 31.
Q51Quantitative Ability·Ratio & Proportion

In September, the incomes of Kamal, Amal and Vimal are in the ratio 8 : 6 : 5. They rent a house together, and Kamal pays 15%, Amal pays 12% and Vimal pays 18% of their respective incomes to cover the total house rent in that month. In October, the house rent remains unchanged while their incomes increase by 10%, 12% and 15%, respectively. In October, the percentage of their total income that will be paid as house rent, is nearest to

  • A13.26Correct answer
  • B14.84
  • C12.75
  • D15.18

Answer: A

Show explanation
Answer:A (13.26) What to find. In October, the percentage of their total income that will be paid as house rent, is nearest to. Setup. In September, the incomes of Kamal, Amal and Vimal are in the ratio 8 : 6 : 5. They rent a house together, and Kamal pays 15%, Steps. Let September incomes be 8k, 6k, 5k. Rent paid: Kamal 0.15·8k = 1.2k, Amal 0.12·6k = 0.72k, Vimal 0.18·5k = 0.9k. Total rent R = 1.2k + 0.72k + 0.9k = 2.82k (unchanged in October). October incomes: 8k·1.10 = 8.8k, 6k·1.12 = 6.72k, 5k·1.15 = 5.75k. Total income = 8.8k + 6.72k + 5.75k = 21.27k. Rent as percent of October total income: 2.82k21.27k·100% ≈ 13.258% ≈ 13.26. Conclusion. This matches A (13.26).
Q52Quantitative Ability·Simple & Compound Interest

An amount of Rs 10000 is deposited in bank A for a certain number of years at a simple interest of 5% per annum. On maturity, the total amount received is deposited in bank B for another 5 years at a simple interest of 6% per annum. If the interests received from bank A and bank B are in the ratio 10 : 13, then the investment period, in years, in bank A is

  • A4
  • B6Correct answer
  • C3
  • D5

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B (6) Let the bank-A period be t years. Interest from A: I_A = 10000·(5100)·t = 500t. Amount matured from A: 10000 + 500t = 10000(1 + t/20). This is principal in B for 5 years at 6% SI: I_B = 10000(1 + t/20)·(6100)·5 = 3000(1 + t/20). Given I_A : I_B = 10 : 13 ⇒ 500t3000(1 + t/20) = 1013 ⇒ 500t · 13 = 3000(1 + t/20)·10 ⇒ 6500t = 30000(1 + t/20) ⇒ 65t = 300 + 15t ⇒ 50t = 300 ⇒ t = 6.
Q53Quantitative Ability·Quadratic EquationsTITA

If the equations x2 + mx + 9 = 0, x2 + nx + 17 = 0 and x2 + (m + n)x + 35 = 0 have a common negative root, then the value of (2m + 3n) is

Answer: 38

Show explanation
Answer:38 Let the common negative root be r. Adding the first two polynomial equations and comparing with the third: (r2 + m r + 9) + (r2 + n r + 17) = 2r2 + (m+n)r + 26, while r2 + (m+n)r + 35 = 0, so r2 = −(m+n)r − 35. Equivalently, the sum of the first two left-hand sides minus the third is r2 + 26 − 35 = r2 − 9, and this must vanish at the common root, so r2 = 9. Since r < 0, r = −3. Plug into the first equation: 9 − 3m + 9 = 0 ⇒ m = 6. Into the second: 9 − 3n + 17 = 0 ⇒ 3n = 26 ⇒ n = 263. Check the third: 9 − 3(m+n) + 35 = 0 ⇒ 44 = 3(m+n) ⇒ m+n = 443, consistent with 6 + 263. Hence 2m + 3n = 12 + 26 = 38.
Q54Quantitative Ability·LogarithmsTITA

If x is a positive real number such that 4 log10 x + 4 log100 x + 8 log1000 x = 13, then the greatest integer not exceeding x, is

Answer: 31

Show explanation
Answer:31 Rewrite every log in base 10. Note log100 x = log102 x = (12) log10 x, and log1000 x = (13) log10 x. Let t = log10 x. Then 4t + 4·(t/2) + 8·(t/3) = 13 ⇒ 4t + 2t + (83)t = 13 ⇒ (6 + 83)t = 13 ⇒ (263)t = 13 ⇒ t = 13·326 = 32. So log10 x = 32 ⇒ x = 1032 = 10 10. Since 10 ≈ 3.162, x ≈ 31.62. The greatest integer not exceeding x is 31.
Q55Quantitative Ability·Linear Equations

Let x, y, and z be real numbers satisfying 4(x2 + y2 + z2) = a 4(x − y − z) = 3 + a Then a equals

  • A1 13
  • B3Correct answer
  • C1
  • D4

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B (3) Given 4(x2 + y2 + z2) = a and 4(x − y − z) = 3 + a. Subtract the second from the first: 4(x2 + y2 + z2) − 4(x − y − z) = a − (3 + a) = −3, so 4(x2 − x + y2 + y + z2 + z) = −3. Complete the square: 4[(x − 12)214 + (y + 12)214 + (z + 12)214] = −3 ⇒ 4[(x − 12)2 + (y + 12)2 + (z + 12)2] − 3 = −3 ⇒ (x − 12)2 + (y + 12)2 + (z + 12)2 = 0. Hence x = 12, y = z = −12. Then a = 4[(12)2 + (−12)2 + (−12)2] = 4·(34) = 3.
Q56Quantitative Ability·Inequalities

In the XY-plane, the area, in sq. units, of the region defined by the inequalities y ≥ x + 4 and −4 ≤ x2 + y2 + 4x − 4y ≤ 0 is

  • A
  • BCorrect answer
  • Cπ
  • D

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B (2π) Complete the square in the quadratic inequality: x2 + 4x + y2 − 4y = (x+2)2 + (y−2)2 − 8. So −4 ≤ (x+2)2 + (y−2)2 − 8 ≤ 0 ⇒ 4 ≤ (x+2)2 + (y−2)2 ≤ 8. This is the closed annular region between circles centered at (−2, 2) with radii 2 and 2 2. The line y ≥ x + 4 is the half-plane above the line through (−2, 2): indeed (−2) + 4 = 2, so the boundary passes through the common center. A diameter of both circles lies on that line, so the half-plane cuts each circle into equal halves. The area of the annulus in the half-plane is half of π(8 − 4) = half of 4π = 2π.
Q57Quantitative Ability·Ratio & Proportion

A glass is filled with milk. Two-thirds of its content is poured out and replaced with water. If this process of pouring out two-thirds the content and replacing with water is repeated three more times, then the final ratio of milk to water in the glass, is

  • A1 : 26
  • B1 : 80Correct answer
  • C1 : 27
  • D1 : 81

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B (1 : 80) What to find. If this process of pouring out two-thirds the content and replacing with water is repeated three more times, then the final ratio of milk to water in the glass, is. Setup. A glass is filled with milk. Two-thirds of its content is poured out and replaced with water. If this process of pouring out two-thirds the content and replacing with water is repeated three more times, Steps. Each replacement leaves 13 of the previous milk. Starting with milk fraction 1, after one step milk fraction is 13; after four identical operations the milk fraction is (13)4 = 181. Water fraction is 1 − 181 = 8081. Milk : water = (181) : (8081) = 1 : 80. Conclusion. This matches B (1 : 80).
Q58Quantitative Ability·Functions & Graphs

Consider two sets A = {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13} and B = {1, 8, 27}. Let f be a function from A to B such that for every element D in B, there is at least one element a in A such that f(a) = b. Then, the total number of such functions f is

  • A667
  • B540Correct answer
  • C537
  • D665

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B (540) What to find. Then, the total number of such functions f is. Setup. Consider two sets A = {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13} and B = {1, 8, 27}. Let f be a function from A to B such that for every element D in B, there is at least one element a in A such that f(a) = b. Then, Steps. |A| = 6, |B| = 3. Total functions A → B: 36 = 729. Surjective functions (onto B): inclusion–exclusion. 36 − C(3,1)·26 + C(3,2)·16 = 729 − 3 × 64 + 3 × 1 = 729 − 192 + 3 = 540. Conclusion. This matches B (540).
Q59Quantitative Ability·Mensuration

The surface area of a closed rectangular box, which is inscribed in a sphere, is 846 sq cm, and the sum of the lengths of all its edges is 144 cm. The volume, in cubic cm, of the sphere is

  • A1125π 2Correct answer
  • B750π 2
  • C1125π
  • D750π

Answer: A

Show explanation
Answer:A (1125π 2) Let the edges of the inscribed box be ℓ, b, h. Then 2(ℓb + bh + hℓ) = 846 ⇒ ℓb + bh + hℓ = 423, and 4(ℓ + b + h) = 144 ⇒ ℓ + b + h = 36. (ℓ + b + h)2 = ℓ2 + b2 + h2 + 2(ℓb + bh + hℓ) 362 = ℓ2 + b2 + h2 + 2 × 423 ⇒ 1296 = ℓ2 + b2 + h2 + 846 ⇒ ℓ2 + b2 + h2 = 450. The space diagonal of the box is a diameter of the sphere: d = 450 = 15 2, so r = 15 22. Volume = (43r3 = (43)π · (15 2)3 / 8 = (43)π · 3375 · 2 28 = 1125π 2. Why the others fail • B (750π 2) — drops a factor of 32 from (43r3. • C (1125π) — forgets the 2 from r3. • D (750π) — both slips at once.
Q60Quantitative Ability·Profit, Loss & Discount

The selling price of a product is fixed to ensure 40% profit. If the product had cost 40% less and had been sold for 5 rupees less, then the resulting profit would have been 50%. The original selling price, in rupees, of the product is

  • A10
  • B15
  • C20
  • D14Correct answer

Answer: D

Show explanation
Answer:D (14) What to find. The original selling price, in rupees, of the product is. Setup. The selling price of a product is fixed to ensure 40% profit. If the product had cost 40% less and had been sold for 5 rupees less, then the resulting profit would have been 50%. The original selling price, in rupees, Steps. Let cost price be C. Selling price SP = 1.4C for 40% profit. If cost were 0.6C and sold at SP − 5, profit 50%: SP − 5 = 1.5·(0.6C) = 0.9C. But SP = 1.4C, so 1.4C − 5 = 0.9C ⇒ 0.5C = 5 ⇒ C = 10. Original SP = 1.4·10 = 14. Conclusion. This matches D (14).
Q61Quantitative Ability·Number Systems

A shop wants to sell a certain quantity (in kg) of grains. It sells half the quantity and an additional 3 kg of these grains to the first customer. Then, it sells half of the remaining quantity and an additional 3 kg of these grains to the second customer. Finally, when the shop sells half of the remaining quantity and an additional 3 kg of these grains to the third customer, there are no grains left. The initial quantity, in kg, of grains is

  • A42Correct answer
  • B18
  • C36
  • D50

Answer: A

Show explanation
Answer:A (42) Work backwards. After the third sale nothing remains: if quantity before the third customer was u, then u/2 + 3 = u ⇒ u/2 = 3 ⇒ u = 6. Before the second customer, quantity v satisfies v/2 + 3 = 6 (remaining for third) wait: after selling half of remaining plus 3, what is left is v − (v/2 + 3) = v/2 − 3, and that equals 6. So v/2 − 3 = 6 ⇒ v/2 = 9 ⇒ v = 18. Initial quantity w: after first sale, left is w/2 − 3 = 18 ⇒ w/2 = 21 ⇒ w = 42.
Q62Quantitative Ability·Surds & Indices

If (a + b n) is the positive square root of (29 − 12 5), where a and b are integers, and n is a natural number, then the maximum possible value of (a + b + n) is

  • A4
  • B18Correct answer
  • C6
  • D22

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B (18) Steps. 1. We need 29 − 12 5 = a + b n with a, b integers and n a natural number, maximising a + b + n. 2. • If n = 5 and ab = −6: (a, b) = (−3, 2) works → −3 + 2 5. Then a+b+n = 4. 3. • If n = 20 and ab = −3: (a, b) = (−3, 1) works → −3 + 20. Then a+b+n = −3+1+20 = 18. Why B. The finished calculation lands on “18” and
Q63Quantitative Ability·CirclesTITA

ABCD is a rectangle with sides AB = 56 cm and BC = 45 cm, and E is the midpoint of side CD. Then, the length, in cm, of the radius of the incircle of △ADE is

Answer: 10

Show explanation
Answer:10 Rectangle ABCD with AB = 56, BC = 45. Place A at origin, B(56,0), C(56,45), D(0,45). Midpoint E of CD is (56+02, 45) = (28, 45). △ADE has vertices A(0,0), D(0,45), E(28,45). Sides: AD = 45, DE = 28, AE = 282 + 452 = 784 + 2025 = 2809 = 53. Inradius of a right triangle (right-angled at D): r = leg1 + leg2 − hypotenuse2 = 45 + 28 − 532 = 202 = 10. (Alternatively r = Area/s = ½·45 × 2845+28+532 = 63063 = 10.)
Q64Quantitative Ability·Ratio & ProportionTITA

A fruit seller has a total of 187 fruits consisting of apples, mangoes and oranges. The number of apples and mangoes are in the ratio 5 : 2. After she sells 75 apples, 26 mangoes and half of the oranges, the ratio of number of unsold apples to number of unsold oranges becomes 3: 2. The total number of unsold fruits is

Answer: 66

Show explanation
Answer:66 Let apples = 5k, mangoes = 2k, oranges = o, with 5k + 2k + o = 187 ⇒ 7k + o = 187. After sales: apples left 5k − 75, mangoes 2k − 26, oranges o/2. Given (5k − 75) : (o/2) = 3 : 2 ⇒ 2(5k − 75) = 3(o/2) ⇒ 4(5k − 75) = 3o ⇒ 20k − 300 = 3o ⇒ o = 20k − 3003. Then 7k + 20k − 3003 = 187 ⇒ 21k + 20k − 300 = 561 ⇒ 41k = 861 ⇒ k = 21. o = 420 − 3003 = 40. Unsold: apples 105 − 75 = 30, mangoes 42 − 26 = 16, oranges 20. Total 30 + 16 + 20 = 66.
Q65Quantitative Ability·Surds & Indices

The sum of all real values of k for which (18)k × (132768)13 = 18 × (132768)1k is

  • A43
  • B23Correct answer
  • C43
  • D23

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B (−23) Setup. Express both bases as powers of 2: 8 = 23 and 32768 = 215. The equation becomes 23(k−1) = 215(1k13). Equate exponents (valid for k ≠ 0, which is already required by 1k). Steps. 3(k−1) = 15(1k13) ⇒ k−1 = 5k53. Bring terms with k to one side: k − 1 + 53 = 5k3k − 3 + 53 = 5k3k+23 = 5k. Cross-multiply: k(3k+2) = 15 ⇒ 3k2 + 2k − 15 = 0. For a quadratic Ak2+Bk+C=0 the sum of roots is −BA = −23. Discriminant 4+180 = 184 > 0, so both roots are real and the required sum is −23. Conclusion. Sum = −23 → B.
Q66Quantitative Ability·Progressions (AP/GP/HP)

Suppose x1, x2, x3, …, x100 are in arithmetic progression such that x5 = −4 and 2x6 + 2x9 = x11 + x13. Then, x100 equals.

  • A204
  • B-194Correct answer
  • C206
  • D-196

Answer: B

Show explanation
Answer:B (-194) Let first term a and common difference d. Then x_n = a + (n−1)d. x_5 = a + 4d = −4. Given 2x_6 + 2x_9 = x_11 + x_13: 2[a+5d] + 2[a+8d] = [a+10d] + [a+12d] ⇒ 2a + 10d + 2a + 16d = 2a + 22d ⇒ 4a + 26d = 2a + 22d ⇒ 2a + 4d = 0 ⇒ a + 2d = 0 ⇒ a = −2d. With a + 4d = −4: −2d + 4d = −4 ⇒ 2d = −4 ⇒ d = −2, a = 4. x_100 = a + 99d = 4 + 99(−2) = 4 − 198 = −194.
Q67Quantitative Ability·Time & WorkTITA

Renu would take 15 days working 4 hours per day to complete a certain task whereas Seema would take 8 days working 5 hours per day to complete the same task. They decide to work together to complete this task. Seema agrees to work for double the number of hours per day as Renu, while Renu agrees to work for double the number of days as Seema. If Renu works 2 hours per day, then the number of days Seema will work, is

Answer: 6

Show explanation
Answer:6 Renu: 15 days × 4 h/day = 60 hours for the job. Seema: 8 × 5 = 40 hours for the job. Rates: Renu 160 job per hour, Seema 140 per hour. Let Seema work d days; then Renu works 2d days. Renu works 2 h/day, so Seema works 4 h/day. Total work: (2d)·2·(160) + d·4·(140) = 1 ⇒ 4d/60 + 4d/40 = 1 ⇒ d/15 + d/10 = 1 ⇒ 2d + 3d30 = 1 ⇒ 5d = 30 ⇒ d = 6.
Q68Quantitative Ability·Surds & IndicesTITA

For any natural number n, let an be the largest integer not exceeding n. Then the value of a1 + a2 + … + a50 is

Answer: 217

Show explanation
Answer:217 a_n = ⌊n⌋. For each integer k ≥ 1, a_n = k for n from k2 through (k+1)2 − 1, i.e. 2k + 1 values, except the last incomplete block. Up to 50: 12=1, 22=4, …, 72=49, 82=64 > 50. For k = 1..6: each k appears (2k+1) times: sumk=16 k(2k+1) = sum (2k2 + k) = 2·(6 × 7·136) + (6·72) = 2 × 91 + 21 = 182 + 21 = 203. (Alternatively: 1 × 3 + 2 × 5 + 3 × 7 + 4 × 9 + 5 × 11 + 6 × 13 = 3+10+21+36+55+78 = 203.) For k = 7: n = 49 and 50 only (2 values), contribution 7 × 2 = 14. Total 203 + 14 = 217.

Answer key

Quick reference — click a question number to jump to the full solution.

Q#SectionAnswerTopic
1VARCDReading Comprehension
2VARCDReading Comprehension
3VARCDReading Comprehension
4VARCAReading Comprehension
5VARCAVerbal Ability
6VARCBVerbal Ability
7VARCBReading Comprehension
8VARCCReading Comprehension
9VARCAReading Comprehension
10VARCAReading Comprehension
11VARCCVerbal Ability
12VARCDReading Comprehension
13VARCBReading Comprehension
14VARCBReading Comprehension
15VARCBReading Comprehension
16VARCCReading Comprehension
17VARCAReading Comprehension
18VARCBReading Comprehension
19VARCBReading Comprehension
20VARC1Verbal Ability
21VARCDVerbal Ability
22VARC2Verbal Ability
23VARCBVerbal Ability
24VARCBVerbal Ability
25DILR8Logical Reasoning
26DILR4Logical Reasoning
27DILRBLogical Reasoning
28DILR3Logical Reasoning
29DILR5Logical Reasoning
30DILR3Data Interpretation
31DILR2Data Interpretation
32DILR4Data Interpretation
33DILRCData Interpretation
34DILRDData Interpretation
35DILRDData Interpretation
36DILRCData Interpretation
37DILRDData Interpretation
38DILR45Logical Reasoning
39DILRCLogical Reasoning
40DILR2Logical Reasoning
41DILRCLogical Reasoning
42DILRDLogical Reasoning
43DILRCLogical Reasoning
44DILRCLogical Reasoning
45DILRBLogical Reasoning
46DILRBLogical Reasoning
47QACQuantitative Ability
48QABQuantitative Ability
49QA15Quantitative Ability
50QA31Quantitative Ability
51QAAQuantitative Ability
52QABQuantitative Ability
53QA38Quantitative Ability
54QA31Quantitative Ability
55QABQuantitative Ability
56QABQuantitative Ability
57QABQuantitative Ability
58QABQuantitative Ability
59QAAQuantitative Ability
60QADQuantitative Ability
61QAAQuantitative Ability
62QABQuantitative Ability
63QA10Quantitative Ability
64QA66Quantitative Ability
65QABQuantitative Ability
66QABQuantitative Ability
67QA6Quantitative Ability
68QA217Quantitative Ability

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