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Previous Year Questions
Which one of the following sets of words/phrases best serves as keywords to the passage?
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The convergence of bio-logic and technos-logic is the main idea of the passage. Option D contains all important keywords.
All other options contain words like carrots and Hosteins which are not keywords.
None of the following statements is implied by the arguments of the passage, EXCEPT:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The question can be rephrased as only one of the given statements is implied by the passage.
Option C can be inferred from the passage based on the lines, "Genetic engineering is precisely what cattle breeders do when they select better strains of Holsteins, only bioengineers employ more precise and powerful control. While carrot and milk cow breeders had to rely on diffuse organic evolution, modern genetic engineers can use directed artificial evolution—purposeful design—which greatly accelerates improvements."
The passage says that directed artificial evolution or purposeful design is used by genetic engineers but it does not state or imply that this is "the pinnacle of scientific expertise". So, option A is out.
The passage clearly states that the logic of the Bios is more complex than the logic of machines. So, option B is incorrect.
According to the passage, many philosophers in the past have "suspected" one could abstract the laws of life and apply them elsewhere. Option D is incorrect as it says philosophers have known this.
The author claims that, "The apparent veil between the organic and the manufactured has crumpled to reveal that the two really are, and have always been, of one being." Which one of the following statements best expresses the point being made by the author here?
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The given statement implies that the lines demarking the organic and the manufactured have blurred and the two are and have always been the same. In other words, scientific advances are making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between organic reality and manufactured reality.
Five jumbled up sentences, related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd one out and key in the number of the sentence as your answer:
A. Machine learning models are prone to learning human-like biases from the training data that feeds these algorithms.
B. Hate speech detection is part of the on-going effort against oppressive and abusive language on social media.
C. The current automatic detection models miss out on something vital: context.
D. It uses complex algorithms to flag racist or violent speech faster and better than human beings alone.
E. For instance, algorithms struggle to determine if group identifiers like "gay" or "black" are used in offensive or prejudiced ways because they're trained on imbalanced datasets with unusually high rates of hate speech.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
If the sentences were to be arranged in a paragraph, B would be the best opening sentence as it sets the context. BD is a link: B talks about hate speech detection while D explains how it works. AE is also a link: sentence A talks about biases arising due to training data. E gives an example of how flawed training data affects algorithms. BDAE is a possible sequence. C is the odd one out.
The four sentences (labelled A, B, C, D) below, when properly sequenced would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer:
A. Complex computational elements of the CNS are organized according to a “nested” hierarchic criterion; the organization is not permanent and can change dynamically from moment to moment as they carry out a computational task.
B. Echolocation in bats exemplifies adaptation produced by natural selection; a function not produced by natural selection for its current use is exaptation -- feathers might have originally arisen in the context of selection for insulation.
C. From a structural standpoint, consistent with exaptation, the living organism is organized as a complex of “Russian Matryoshka Dolls” -- smaller structures are contained within larger ones in multiple layers.
D. The exaptation concept, and the Russian-doll organization concept of living beings deduced from studies on evolution of the various apparatuses in mammals, can be applied for the most complex human organ: the central nervous system (CNS).
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
DA is a link. D talks of various concepts being applied to the central nervous system. Sentence A is about the central nervous system. D, however, is not the opening sentence of the paragraph, as it talks of the 'exaptation' concept and 'Russian doll organisation' concept, the meaning of which is not clear from D. B explains what exaptation is and C what Russsian doll organisation is. So, BCDA is the right order.
The official answer puts C after D which is incorrect, as the Russian Doll concept is introduced in C.
Five jumbled up sentences, related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd one out and key in the number of the sentence as your answer:
A. The logic of displaying one’s inner qualities through outward appearance was based on a distinction between being a woman and being feminine.
B. 'Appearance' became a signifier of conduct - to look was to be and conformity to the feminine ideal was measured by how well women could use the tools of the fashion and beauty industries.
C. The makeover-centric media sets out subtly and not-so-subtly, ‘good’ and ‘bad’ ways to be a woman, layering these over inequalities of race and class.
D. The denigration of working-class women and women of colour often centres on their perceived failure to embody feminine beauty.
E. ‘Woman’ was considered a biological category, but femininity was a ‘process’ by which women became specific kinds of women.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The sentences relate to subject of being a woman versus being feminine. EB is a link. The sentences are structured similarly and state what signifies what. Sentence A relates to the same idea. AEB is a possible sequence. Between C and D, D fits better to the idea in B--the measure of the feminine ideal.
C, which is about how the 'make-over centric media' set out to define 'good' and 'bad' ways to be a woman, is the odd one out.
The four sentences (labelled A, B, C, D) below, when properly sequenced would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer:
A. Each one personified a different aspect of good fortune.
B. The others were versions of popular Buddhist gods, Hindu gods and Daoist gods.
C. Seven popular Japanese deities, the Shichi Fukujin, were considered to bring good luck and happiness.
D. Although they were included in the Shinto pantheon, only two of them, Daikoku and Ebisu, were indigenous Japanese gods
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
C is the best opening sentence. C talks of seven popular Japanese deities. Sentence A adds to C, stating that each one personified a different aspect of good fortune. DB is a clear link, D talks of two of the deities, and B the others. CADB is hence the right order.
The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
Aesthetic political representation urges us to realize that ‘the representative has autonomy with regard to the people represented’ but autonomy then is not an excuse to abandon one’s responsibility. Aesthetic autonomy requires cultivation of ‘disinterestedness’ on the part of actors which is not indifference. To have disinterestedness, that is, to have comportment towards the beautiful that is devoid of all ulterior references to use – requires a kind of aesthetic commitment; it is the liberation of ourselves for the release of what has proper worth only in itself.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The main idea of the paragraph is that aesthetic political representation requires that the actor has autonomy with regard to the portrayal and that this involves the cultivation of disinterestedness (which is different from indifference) on part of the actors. Option B captures the essence of the paragraph.
Option A talks of a "non-subjective evaluation of things", something that is not mentioned in the paragraph. Option C does not include the key word 'aesthetic'. Option D states that autonomy is "manifested through" (shown clearly by) disinterestedness. The paragraph only urges the cultivation of disinterestedness in order to liberate oneself from all ulterior references.
The four sentences (labelled A, B, C, D) below, when properly sequenced would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer:
A. It advocated a conservative approach to antitrust enforcement that espouses faith in efficient markets and voiced suspicion regarding the merits of judicial intervention to correct anticompetitive practices.
B. Many industries have consistently gained market share, the lion’s share - without any official concern; the most successful technology companies have grown into veritable titans, on the premise that they advance ‘public interest’.
C. That the new anticompetitive risks posed by tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Amazon, necessitate new legal solutions could be attributed to the dearth of enforcement actions against monopolies and the few cases challenging mergers in the USA.
D. The criterion of ‘consumer welfare standard’ and the principle that antitrust law should serve consumer interests and that it should protect competition rather than individual competitors was an antitrust law introduced by, and named after, the 'Chicago school'.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
Sentence D is the best opening sentence as it sets the context, discussing the principle behind antitrust law. DA is a sequence: the pronoun 'it' that A starts with clearly applies to the Chicago school mentioned in D. BC is also a link:B talks about the consistent growth of tech titans and C attributes this to the dearth of enforcement actions. So, DABC is the correct order.
The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
Brown et al. (2001) suggest that ‘metabolic theory may provide a conceptual foundation for much of ecology just as genetic theory provides a foundation for much of evolutionary biology’. One of the successes of genetic theory is the diversity of theoretical approaches and models that have been developed and applied. A Web of Science (v. 5.9. Thomson Reuters) search on genetic* + theor* + evol* identifies more than 12000 publications between 2005 and 2012. Considering only the 10 most-cited papers within this 12000 publication set, genetic theory can be seen to focus on genome dynamics, phylogenetic inference, game theory and the regulation of gene expression. There is no one fundamental genetic equation, but rather a wide array of genetic models, ranging from simple to complex, with differing inputs and outputs, and divergent areas of application, loosely connected to each other through the shared conceptual foundation of heritable variation.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The paragraph starts with the idea that metabolic theory may provide a conceptual foundation for ecology just as genetic theory did for evolutionary biology. It goes on to explain how the genetic theory worked: through wide array of genetic models loosely connected to each other through theshared conceptual foundation. Option B captures both ideas.
Option A states that metabolic theory "must have" the same range of theoretical approaches and applications. This is not what the paragraph says. Option C does not mention metabolic theory while option D is incorrect, based on the information in the paragraph.
Which one of the following, if false, could be seen as supporting the author’s claims?
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
Trickily worded question. The option that, if false, supports the author's claims is the one that, if true, does not support the author's claims.
From the first line of the passage, we know that the author has been following the economic crisis for more than two years. The author clearly states that he is "not sure the idea of a huge gap between science and the arts is as true as it was half a century ago". Also, according to the author, "many bright, literate people have no idea about all sorts of economic basics". So, options A, B and D, if true, support the author's claims.
On the other hand, the author states that the crisis was due to "the sluggishness of the world’s governments" not preparing for the great unraveling of autumn 2008 . The statement that the economic crisis was not a failure of collective action to rectify economic problems goes against the author's view. So, option C, if true, does not support the author's claims.
Which one of the following, if true, would be an accurate inference from the first sentence of the passage?
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
From the first line of the passage, we understand that the author has been following the economic crisis for more than two years, i.e not less than two years.
Which one of the following best captures the main argument of the last paragraph of the passage?
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The main idea of the last paragraph is stated in the line, "after decades in which the ideology of the Western world was personally and economically individualistic, we’ve suddenly been hit by a crisis which shows in the starkest terms that whether we like it or not—and there are large parts of it that you would have to be crazy to like—we’re all in this together". Option C captures this idea well.
All of the following, if true, could be seen as supporting the arguments in the passage, EXCEPT:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The author calls the crisis "absolutely amazing story, full of human interest and drama, one whose byways of mathematics, economics, and psychology are both central to the story". So, Option A is in line with the arguments in the passage.
While beginning to work on the crisis the author wrote that was extending the laws to control risky investment vehicles was essential to avoid a global financial disaster. Option B, too, is in line with the arguments in the passage.
The author also states that "there is a need to narrow that gap, if the financial industry is not to be a kind of priesthood, administering to its own mysteries and feared and resented by the rest of us". In other words, financial matters have become very arcane and difficult to understand. So, option D supports the arguments in the passage.
However, in the last paragraph, the author states that the economic crisis shows the failure of the personally and economically individualistic ideology of the Western world. So, option C, if true, does not support the arguments in the passage.
According to the passage, the author is likely to be supportive of which one of the following programmes?
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The author laments the fact that many bright, literate people have no idea about all sorts of economic basics. So, he is likely to be supportive of an educational curriculum that promotes developing financial literacy in the masses.
Note that option A is incorrect as it talks of economic "research". There is no basis for options C and D in the passage.
The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question.
I’ve been following the economic crisis for more than two years now. I began working on the subject as part of the background to a novel, and soon realized that I had stumbled across the most interesting story I’ve ever found. While I was beginning to work on it, the British bank Northern Rock blew up, and it became clear that, as I wrote at the time, “If our laws are not extended to control the new kinds of super-powerful, super-complex, and potentially super-risky investment vehicles, they will one day cause a financial disaster of global-systemic proportions.” . . . I was both right and too late, because all the groundwork for the crisis had already been done—though the sluggishness of the world’s governments, in not preparing for the great unraveling of autumn 2008, was then and still is stupefying. But this is the first reason why I wrote this book: because what’s happened is extraordinarily interesting. It is an absolutely amazing story, full of human interest and drama, one whose byways of mathematics, economics, and psychology are both central to the story of the last decades and mysteriously unknown to the general public. We have heard a lot about “the two cultures” of science and the arts—we heard a particularly large amount about it in 2009, because it was the fiftieth anniversary of the speech during which C. P. Snow first used the phrase. But I’m not sure the idea of a huge gap between science and the arts is as true as it was half a century ago—it’s certainly true, for instance, that a general reader who wants to pick up an education in the fundamentals of science will find it easier than ever before. It seems to me that there is a much bigger gap between the world of finance and that of the general public and that there is a need to narrow that gap, if the financial industry is not to be a kind of priesthood, administering to its own mysteries and feared and resented by the rest of us. Many bright, literate people have no idea about all sorts of economic basics, of a type that financial insiders take as elementary facts of how the world works. I am an outsider to finance and economics, and my hope is that I can talk across that gulf.
My need to understand is the same as yours, whoever you are. That’s one of the strangest ironies of this story: after decades in which the ideology of the Western world was personally and economically individualistic, we’ve suddenly been hit by a crisis which shows in the starkest terms that whether we like it or not—and there are large parts of it that you would have to be crazy to like—we’re all in this together. The aftermath of the crisis is going to dominate the economics and politics of our societies for at least a decade to come and perhaps longer.
Which one of the following, if false, could be seen as supporting the author’s claims?
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
Trickily worded question. The option that, if false, supports the author's claims is the one that, if true, does not support the author's claims.
From the first line of the passage, we know that the author has been following the economic crisis for more than two years. The author clearly states that he is "not sure the idea of a huge gap between science and the arts is as true as it was half a century ago". Also, according to the author, "many bright, literate people have no idea about all sorts of economic basics". So, options A, B and D, if true, support the author's claims.
On the other hand, the author states that the crisis was due to "the sluggishness of the world’s governments" not preparing for the great unraveling of autumn 2008 . The statement that the economic crisis was not a failure of collective action to rectify economic problems goes against the author's view. So, option C, if true, does not support the author's claims.
Which one of the following, if true, would be an accurate inference from the first sentence of the passage?
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
From the first line of the passage, we understand that the author has been following the economic crisis for more than two years, i.e not less than two years.
Which one of the following best captures the main argument of the last paragraph of the passage?
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The main idea of the last paragraph is stated in the line, "after decades in which the ideology of the Western world was personally and economically individualistic, we’ve suddenly been hit by a crisis which shows in the starkest terms that whether we like it or not—and there are large parts of it that you would have to be crazy to like—we’re all in this together". Option C captures this idea well.
All of the following, if true, could be seen as supporting the arguments in the passage, EXCEPT:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The author calls the crisis "absolutely amazing story, full of human interest and drama, one whose byways of mathematics, economics, and psychology are both central to the story". So, Option A is in line with the arguments in the passage.
While beginning to work on the crisis the author wrote that was extending the laws to control risky investment vehicles was essential to avoid a global financial disaster. Option B, too, is in line with the arguments in the passage.
The author also states that "there is a need to narrow that gap, if the financial industry is not to be a kind of priesthood, administering to its own mysteries and feared and resented by the rest of us". In other words, financial matters have become very arcane and difficult to understand. So, option D supports the arguments in the passage.
However, in the last paragraph, the author states that the economic crisis shows the failure of the personally and economically individualistic ideology of the Western world. So, option C, if true, does not support the arguments in the passage.
According to the passage, the author is likely to be supportive of which one of the following programmes?
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The author laments the fact that many bright, literate people have no idea about all sorts of economic basics. So, he is likely to be supportive of an educational curriculum that promotes developing financial literacy in the masses.
Note that option A is incorrect as it talks of economic "research". There is no basis for options C and D in the passage.
The statement “The richer you are, the more you spend to be off-screen” is supported by which other line from the passage?
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The given statement implies that the class you belong to decides how much time you spend off-screen. Screen time, according to the passage is "déclassé". Option C states the same idea.
The author claims that Silicon Valley tech companies have tried to “confuse the public” by:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
In paragraph 4, the author states that people who actually build a screen-based future do not raise their own children that way: "In Silicon Valley, time on screens is increasingly seen as unhealthy.Here, the popular elementary school is the local Waldorf School, which promises a back-to-nature, nearly screen-free education."
The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question.
[There is] a curious new reality: Human contact is becoming a luxury good. As more screens appear in the lives of the poor, screens are disappearing from the lives of the rich. The richer you are, the more you spend to be off-screen. . . .
The joy — at least at first — of the internet revolution was its democratic nature. Facebook is the same Facebook whether you are rich or poor. Gmail is the same Gmail. And it’s all free. There is something mass market and unappealing about that. And as studies show that time on these advertisement-support platforms is unhealthy, it all starts to seem déclassé, like drinking soda or smoking cigarettes, which wealthy people do less than poor people. The wealthy can afford to opt out of having their data and their attention sold as a product. The poor and middle class don’t have the same kind of resources to make that happen.
Screen exposure starts young. And children who spent more than two hours a day looking at a screen got lower scores on thinking and language tests, according to early results of a landmark study on brain development of more than 11,000 children that the National Institutes of Health is supporting. Most disturbingly, the study is finding that the brains of children who spend a lot of time on screens are different. For some kids, there is premature thinning of their cerebral cortex. In adults, one study found an association between screen time and depression. . . .
Tech companies worked hard to get public schools to buy into programs that required schools to have one laptop per student, arguing that it would better prepare children for their screen-based future. But this idea isn’t how the people who actually build the screen-based future raise their own children. In Silicon Valley, time on screens is increasingly seen as unhealthy. Here, the popular elementary school is the local Waldorf School, which promises a back-to-nature, nearly screen-free education. So as wealthy kids are growing up with less screen time, poor kids are growing up with more. How comfortable someone is with human engagement could become a new class marker.
Human contact is, of course, not exactly like organic food . . . . But with screen time, there has been a concerted effort on the part of Silicon Valley behemoths to confuse the public. The poor and the middle class are told that screens are good and important for them and their children. There are fleets of psychologists and neuroscientists on staff at big tech companies working to hook eyes and minds to the screen as fast as possible and for as long as possible. And so human contact is rare. . . .
There is a small movement to pass a “right to disconnect” bill, which would allow workers to turn their phones off, but for now a worker can be punished for going offline and not being available. There is also the reality that in our culture of increasing isolation, in which so many of the traditional gathering places and social structures have disappeared, screens are filling a crucial void.
Which of the following statements about the negative effects of screen time is the author least likely to endorse?
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The author discusses the negative effects of screen time and mentions the fact that it causes depression in adults, that it has adverse effects on children's learing and that it is designed to be addictive. The author is unlikely to endorse the view that screen time increases human contact, as it fills a void.
The statement “The richer you are, the more you spend to be off-screen” is supported by which other line from the passage?
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The given statement implies that the class you belong to decides how much time you spend off-screen. Screen time, according to the passage is "déclassé". Option C states the same idea.
The author claims that Silicon Valley tech companies have tried to “confuse the public” by:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
In paragraph 4, the author states that people who actually build a screen-based future do not raise their own children that way: "In Silicon Valley, time on screens is increasingly seen as unhealthy.Here, the popular elementary school is the local Waldorf School, which promises a back-to-nature, nearly screen-free education."
Which of the following statements about the negative effects of screen time is the author least likely to endorse?
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The author discusses the negative effects of screen time and mentions the fact that it causes depression in adults, that it has adverse effects on children's learing and that it is designed to be addictive. The author is unlikely to endorse the view that screen time increases human contact, as it fills a void.
The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question.
Although one of the most contested concepts in political philosophy, human nature is something on which most people seem to agree. By and large, according to Rutger Bregman in his new book Humankind, we have a rather pessimistic view – not of ourselves exactly, but of everyone else. We see other people as selfish, untrustworthy and dangerous and therefore we behave towards them with defensiveness and suspicion. This was how the 17th-century philosopher Thomas Hobbes conceived our natural state to be, believing that all that stood between us and violent anarchy was a strong state and firm leadership.
But in following Hobbes, argues Bregman, we ensure that the negative view we have of human nature is reflected back at us. He instead puts his faith in Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the 18th-century French thinker, who famously declared that man was born free and it was civilisation – with its coercive powers, social classes and restrictive laws – that put him in chains.
Hobbes and Rousseau are seen as the two poles of the human nature argument and it’s no surprise that Bregman strongly sides with the Frenchman. He takes Rousseau’s intuition and paints a picture of a prelapsarian idyll in which, for the better part of 300,000 years, Homo sapiens lived a fulfilling life in harmony with nature . . . Then we discovered agriculture and for the next 10,000 years it was all property, war, greed and injustice. . . .
It was abandoning our nomadic lifestyle and then domesticating animals, says Bregman, that brought about infectious diseases such as measles, smallpox, tuberculosis, syphilis, malaria, cholera and plague. This may be true, but what Bregman never really seems to get to grips with is that pathogens were not the only things that grew with agriculture – so did the number of humans. It’s one thing to maintain friendly relations and a property-less mode of living when you’re 30 or 40 hunter-gatherers following the food. But life becomes a great deal more complex and knowledge far more extensive when there are settlements of many thousands.
“Civilisation has become synonymous with peace and progress and wilderness with war and decline,” writes Bregman. “In reality, for most of human existence, it was the other way around.” Whereas traditional history depicts the collapse of civilisations as “dark ages” in which everything gets worse, modern scholars, he claims, see them more as a reprieve, in which the enslaved gain their freedom and culture flourishes. Like much else in this book, the truth is probably somewhere between the two stated positions.
In any case, the fear of civilisational collapse, Bregman believes, is unfounded. It’s the result of what the Dutch biologist Frans de Waal calls “veneer theory” – the idea that just below the surface, our bestial nature is waiting to break out. . . . There’s a great deal of reassuring human decency to be taken from this bold and thought-provoking book and a wealth of evidence in support of the contention that the sense of who we are as a species has been deleteriously distorted. But it seems equally misleading to offer the false choice of Rousseau and Hobbes when, clearly, humanity encompasses both.
The author has differing views from Bregman regarding:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The passage presents the two poles of the human nature argument posed by Hobbbes and Rousseau and asserts that "truth is probably somewhere between the two stated positions". Bregman believes civilisation is synonymous with war and decline and wilderness with peace and progress; the author disagrees.
According to the passage, the “collapse of civilisations” is viewed by Bregman as:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
According to the passage, Bregman sees the collapse of civilisations "more as a reprieve, in which the enslaved gain their freedom and culture flourishes." In other words, he sees it as a time that enables changes in societies and cultures.
None of the following views is expressed in the passage EXCEPT that:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The only statement that matches the views in the passage is D. In the first paragraph, the passage states, "By and large... we have a rather pessimistic view – not of ourselves exactly, but of everyone else....This was how the 17th-century philosopher Thomas Hobbes conceived our natural state to be.."
According to the author, the main reason why Bregman contrasts life in pre-agricultural societies with agricultural societies is to:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
According to the author, Bregman "paints a picture of a prelapsarian idyll in which, for the better part of 300,000 years, Homo sapiens lived a fulfilling life in harmony with nature . . . Then we discovered agriculture and for the next 10,000 years it was all property, war, greed and injustice". Thus, Bregman, according to the author, portrays agriculture and progress as the root cause for greed and selfishness.
The author has differing views from Bregman regarding:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The passage presents the two poles of the human nature argument posed by Hobbbes and Rousseau and asserts that "truth is probably somewhere between the two stated positions". Bregman believes civilisation is synonymous with war and decline and wilderness with peace and progress; the author disagrees.
According to the passage, the “collapse of civilisations” is viewed by Bregman as:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
According to the passage, Bregman sees the collapse of civilisations "more as a reprieve, in which the enslaved gain their freedom and culture flourishes." In other words, he sees it as a time that enables changes in societies and cultures.
None of the following views is expressed in the passage EXCEPT that:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The only statement that matches the views in the passage is D. In the first paragraph, the passage states, "By and large... we have a rather pessimistic view – not of ourselves exactly, but of everyone else....This was how the 17th-century philosopher Thomas Hobbes conceived our natural state to be.."
According to the author, the main reason why Bregman contrasts life in pre-agricultural societies with agricultural societies is to:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
According to the author, Bregman "paints a picture of a prelapsarian idyll in which, for the better part of 300,000 years, Homo sapiens lived a fulfilling life in harmony with nature . . . Then we discovered agriculture and for the next 10,000 years it was all property, war, greed and injustice". Thus, Bregman, according to the author, portrays agriculture and progress as the root cause for greed and selfishness.
From the passage, we can infer that travel writing is most similar to:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The passage talks about travel narratives highlighting the experiences of male protagonists "discovering themselves" on their journeys and of Said’s book, Orientalism, helping scholars to "understand ways in which representations of people in travel texts were intimately bound up with notions of self..." So, travel writing, according to the passage, is similar to autobiographical writing.
From the passage, it can be inferred that scholars argue that Victorian women experienced self-development through their travels because:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
According to the last paragraph, "Many studies from the 1970s onward demonstrated the ways in which women’s gendered identities were negotiated differently “at home” than they were “away,” thereby showing women’s self-development through travel."So, option A is correct.
American travel literature of the 1920s:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
According to the first paragraph, American travel narratives in the 1920s "highlight the experiences of mostly male protagonists “discovering themselves” on their journeys, emphasizing the independence of road travel and the value of rural folk traditions". In other words, these narratives celebrated the freedom that travel gives.
According to the passage, Said’s book, “Orientalism”:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
Refer to the last line of the second paragraph: "Said’s work became a model for demonstrating cultural forms of imperialism in travel texts, showing how the political, economic, or administrative fact of dominance relies on legitimating discourses such as those articulated through travel writing."
In other words, Said’s work showed how cultural imperialism was used to justify colonial domination.
The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question.
Mode of transportation affects the travel experience and thus can produce new types of travel writing and perhaps even new “identities.” Modes of transportation determine the types and duration of social encounters; affect the organization and passage of space and time; . . . and also affect perception and knowledge—how and what the traveler comes to know and write about. The completion of the first U.S. transcontinental highway during the 1920s . . . for example, inaugurated a new genre of travel literature about the United States—the automotive or road narrative. Such narratives highlight the experiences of mostly male protagonists “discovering themselves” on their journeys, emphasizing the independence of road travel and the value of rural folk traditions.
Travel writing’s relationship to empire building— as a type of “colonialist discourse”—has drawn the most attention from academicians. Close connections have been observed between European (and American) political, economic, and administrative goals for the colonies and their manifestations in the cultural practice of writing travel books. Travel writers’ descriptions of foreign places have been analyzed as attempts to validate, promote, or challenge the ideologies and practices of colonial or imperial domination and expansion. Mary Louise Pratt’s study of the genres and conventions of 18th- and 19th-century exploration narratives about South America and Africa (e.g., the “monarch of all I survey” trope) offered ways of thinking about travel writing as embedded within relations of power between metropole and periphery, as did Edward Said’s theories of representation and cultural imperialism. Particularly Said’s book, Orientalism, helped scholars understand ways in which representations of people in travel texts were intimately bound up with notions of self, in this case, that the Occident defined itself through essentialist, ethnocentric, and racist representations of the Orient. Said’s work became a model for demonstrating cultural forms of imperialism in travel texts, showing how the political, economic, or administrative fact of dominance relies on legitimating discourses such as those articulated through travel writing. . . .
Feminist geographers’ studies of travel writing challenge the masculinist history of geography by questioning who and what are relevant subjects of geographic study and, indeed, what counts as geographic knowledge itself. Such questions are worked through ideological constructs that posit men as explorers and women as travelers—or, conversely, men as travelers and women as tied to the home. Studies of Victorian women who were professional travel writers, tourists, wives of colonial administrators, and other (mostly) elite women who wrote narratives about their experiences abroad during the 19th century have been particularly revealing. From a “liberal” feminist perspective, travel presented one means toward female liberation for middle- and upper-class Victorian women. Many studies from the 1970s onward demonstrated the ways in which women’s gendered identities were negotiated differently “at home” than they were “away,” thereby showing women’s self-development through travel. The more recent poststructural turn in studies of Victorian travel writing has focused attention on women’s diverse and fragmented identities as they narrated their travel experiences, emphasizing women’s sense of themselves as women in new locations, but only as they worked through their ties to nation, class, whiteness, and colonial and imperial power structures.
From the passage, we can infer that feminist scholars’ understanding of the experiences of Victorian women travellers is influenced by all of the following EXCEPT scholars':
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
According to the passage, feminist scholars’ study of the experiences of Victorian women travellers "challenge the masculinist history of geography", by working through "ideological constructs" and has focused attention on "women’s diverse and fragmented identities as they narrated their travel experiences". So, the scholars' fresh perspective, awareness of gender issues and of women's diverse and fragmented identities are discussed in the passage. Only option C is incorrect.
From the passage, we can infer that travel writing is most similar to:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The passage talks about travel narratives highlighting the experiences of male protagonists "discovering themselves" on their journeys and of Said’s book, Orientalism, helping scholars to "understand ways in which representations of people in travel texts were intimately bound up with notions of self..." So, travel writing, according to the passage, is similar to autobiographical writing.
From the passage, it can be inferred that scholars argue that Victorian women experienced self-development through their travels because:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
According to the last paragraph, "Many studies from the 1970s onward demonstrated the ways in which women’s gendered identities were negotiated differently “at home” than they were “away,” thereby showing women’s self-development through travel."So, option A is correct.
American travel literature of the 1920s:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
According to the first paragraph, American travel narratives in the 1920s "highlight the experiences of mostly male protagonists “discovering themselves” on their journeys, emphasizing the independence of road travel and the value of rural folk traditions". In other words, these narratives celebrated the freedom that travel gives.
According to the passage, Said’s book, “Orientalism”:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
Refer to the last line of the second paragraph: "Said’s work became a model for demonstrating cultural forms of imperialism in travel texts, showing how the political, economic, or administrative fact of dominance relies on legitimating discourses such as those articulated through travel writing."
In other words, Said’s work showed how cultural imperialism was used to justify colonial domination.
From the passage, we can infer that feminist scholars’ understanding of the experiences of Victorian women travellers is influenced by all of the following EXCEPT scholars':
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
According to the passage, feminist scholars’ study of the experiences of Victorian women travellers "challenge the masculinist history of geography", by working through "ideological constructs" and has focused attention on "women’s diverse and fragmented identities as they narrated their travel experiences". So, the scholars' fresh perspective, awareness of gender issues and of women's diverse and fragmented identities are discussed in the passage. Only option C is incorrect.
The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
The weight of society's expectations is hardly a new phenomenon but it has become particularly draining over recent decades, perhaps because expectations themselves are so multifarious and contradictory. The perfectionism of the 1950s was rooted in the norms of mass culture and captured in famous advertising images of the ideal white American family that now seem self-satirising. In that era, perfectionism meant seamlessly conforming to values, behaviour and appearance: chiselled confidence for men, demure graciousness for women. The perfectionist was under pressure to look like everyone else, only more so. The perfectionists of today, by contrast, feel an obligation to stand out through their idiosyncratic style and wit if they are to gain a foothold in the attention economy.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The paragraph given states that society's expectations, though not a new phenomenon, are multifarious and contradictory. Perfectionism of the 1950s involved seamless conforming to values, behaviour and appearance while perfectionism of today is about standing out.
Option A is the best of the given summaries as it touches upon all key ideas.
Option B is incorrect. The paragraph does not say that pressure to appear perfect has been the cause of 'tension and conflict'.
Option C, which is about 'the desire to attract attention' being deep-rooted, is not related to the contents of the paragraph.
Option D talks about the role of media. The paragraph does not mention this.
The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
Gradually, life for the island's birds is improving. Antarctic prions and white-headed petrels, which also nest in burrows, had managed to cling on in some sites while pests were on the island. Their numbers are now increasing. "It's fantastic and so exciting," Shaw says. As birds return to breed, they also poo. This adds nutrients to the soil, which in turn helps the plants to grow back stronger. Tall plants then help burrowing birds hide from predatory skuas. "It's this wonderful feedback loop," Shaw says. Today, the "pretty paddock" that Houghton first experienced has been transformed. "The tussock is over your head, and you're dodging all these penguin tunnels," she says. The orchids and tiny herb that had been protected by fencing have started turning up all over the place.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The given paragraph describes how, in the absence of pests, birds have returned to breed, plants have started growing back stronger and the ecosystem in general has become transformed for the better in the island. Option B is the best of the given summaries.
Option A is incorrect. According to the paragraph, pests 'were' on the island, but are no longer there.
The paragraph does not say the island has been 'brought under environmental protection'. So, option C is incorrect.
The paragraph does not specifically say the island in question is an Antarctic island. So, option D is incorrect.
The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4) given below, when properly sequenced, would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer.
1. Centuries later formal learning is still mostly based on reading, even with the widespread use of other possible education-affecting technologies such as film, radio, and television.
2. One of the immediate and recognisable impacts of the printing press was on how people learned; in the scribal culture it primarily involved listening, so memorization was paramount.
3. The transformation of learners from listeners to readers was a complex social and cultural phenomenon, and it was not until the industrial era that the concept of universal literacy took root.
4. The printing press shifted the learning process, as listening and memorisation gradually gave way to reading and learning no longer required the presence of a mentor; it could be done privately.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The paragraph explains how the process of learning has transformed over time. 2 is the best sentence to start the paragraph, as it talks about how the printing press transformed the learning process from listening and memorisation to reading. 4 adds to 2 and so it follows 2. 3 follows 4 as it relates to the idea in 24 and adds to this with a new idea- the concept of universal literacy that took root in the industrial era. 1 concludes the paragraph with the situation today, centuries later.
So, 2431 is the correct order.
The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4) given below, when properly sequenced, would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer.
1. Veena Sahajwalla, a materials scientist at the University of New South Wales, believes there is a new way of solving this problem.
2. Her vision is for automated drones and robots to pick out components, put them into a small furnace and smelt them at specific temperatures to extract the metals one by one before they are sent off to manufacturers for reuse.
3. E-waste contains huge quantities of valuable metals, ceramics and plastics that could be salvaged and recycled, although currently not enough of it is.
4. She plans to build microfactories that can tease apart the tangle of materials in mobile phones, computers and other e-waste.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
3 is a general statement that outlines the main idea of the paragraph. So, 3 is the starting sentence. All other sentences relate to Veena Sahajwalla's approach to solve the problem of e-waste. So, 1, which introduces Veena, follows 3. 4 outlines Veena's plan and 2 adds to 4, explaining how she plans to separate, extract and reuse the tangle of materials in e-waste.
3142 is the correct order.
Five jumbled up 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 and key in the number of that sentence as your answer.
1. Boa Senior, who lived through the 2004 tsunami, the Japanese occupation and diseases brought by British settlers, was the last native of the island chain who was fluent in Bo.
2. The indigenous population has been steadily collapsing since the island chain was colonised by British settlers in 1858 and used for most of the following 100 years as a colonial penal colony.
3. Taking its name from a now-extinct tribe, Bo is one of the 10 Great Andamanese languages, which are thought to date back to pre-Neolithic human settlement of south-east Asia.
4. The last speaker of an ancient tribal language has died in the Andaman Islands, breaking a 65,000-year link to one of the world's oldest cultures.
5. Though the language has been closely studied by researchers of linguistic history, Boa Senior spent the last few years of her life unable to converse with anyone in her mother tongue.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
All sentences except 2 relate to either the language Bo or its last speaker, Boa Senior. Sentence 2, which is about the collapse of the indigenous population on the island, is the odd one out.
If the sentences were to be arranged in a paragraph, 4 is the best starting sentence. 4 mentions 'an ancient tribal language'. 3 names this language and so it follows 4. These sentences are followed by 1 and 5, both of which relate to Boa Senior, the last speaker of the language.
The four sentences (labelled A, B, C, D) below, when properly sequenced would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer:
A. It also has four movable auxiliary telescopes 1.8 m in diameter.
B. Completed in 2006, the Very Large Telescope (VLT) has four reflecting telescopes, 8.2 m in diameter that can observe objects 4 billion times weaker than can normally be seen with the naked eye.
C. This configuration enables one to distinguish an astronaut on the Moon.
D. When these are combined with the large telescopes, they produce what is called interferometry: a simulation of the power of a mirror 16 m in diameter and the resolution of a telescope of 200 m.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
Easy question. B is the best opening sentence. Sentence A adds to B, as it describes the telescope. D states the result of combining the telescopes mentioned in B and A with large telescopes, and C concludes the paragraph stating how this configuration helps.
Five jumbled up 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 and key in the number of that sentence as your answer.
1. Although hard skills have traditionally ruled the roost, some companies are moving away from choosing prospective hires based on technical abilities alone.
2. Companies are shaking off the old definition of an ideal candidate and ditching the idea of looking for the singularly perfect candidate altogether.
3. Now, some job descriptions are frequently asking for candidates to demonstrate soft skills, such as leadership or teamwork.
4. That's not to say that practical know-how is no longer required – some jobs still call for highly specific expertise
5. The move towards prioritising soft skills "is a natural response to three years of the pandemic" says a senior recruiter at Cenlar FSB.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
All sentences other than sentence 2 relate to skills- hard and soft skills- companies are looking for in prospective hires. Sentence 2, which talks about the ideal/perfect candidate, is the odd one out.
If the sentences were to be put in a paragraph, 1 would be the opening sentence. 1 says some companies are moving away from choosing prospective hires based on technical abilities alone. 3 follows 1, stating that some job descriptions are frequently asking for candidates to demonstrate soft skills. 5 adds to 3 and 4 concludes the paragraph.
Five jumbled up sentences, related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd one out and key in the number of the sentence as your answer:
A. The victim’s trauma after assault rarely gets the attention that we lavish on the moment of damage that divided the survivor from a less encumbered past.
B. One thing we often do with narratives of sexual assault is sort their respective parties into different temporalities: it seems we are interested in perpetrators’ futures and victims’ pasts.
C. One result is that we don’t have much of a vocabulary for what happens in a victim’s life after the painful past has been excavated, even when our shared language gestures toward the future, as the term “survivor” does.
D. Even the most charitable questions asked about the victims seem to focus on the past, in pursuit of understanding or of corroboration of painful details.
E. As more and more stories of sexual assault have been made public in the last two years, the genre of their telling has exploded --- crimes have a tendency to become not just stories but genres.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
EBCA is a sequence: E talks about the new genre of stories of sexual assault. B adds to this, stating that the telling focuses on the perpetrators’ futures and victims’ pasts. C states the result of this: the lack of vocabulary for what happens in the victim's future. Sentence A adds to C.
Option D is about "questions asked about victims", a related but slightly different idea.
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: Beyond undermining the monopoly of the State on the use of force, armed conflict also creates an environment that can enable organized crime to prosper.
Paragraph: ___(1)___. Linkages between illicit arms, organized crime, and armed conflict can reinforce one another while also escalating and prolonging violence and eroding governance.___(2)___. Financial gains from crime can lengthen or intensify armed conflicts by creating revenue streams for non-State armed groups (NSAGs).___(3)___. In this context, when hostilities cease and parties to a conflict move towards a peaceful resolution, the widespread availability of surplus arms and ammunition can contribute to a situation of 'criminalized peace' that obstructs sustainable peacebuilding efforts.___(4)___.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The given sentence starts with 'beyond undermining the monopoly of the State on the use of force'. So, the sentence before it must relate to this point. We see that the sentence before option 3 talks about non-State armed groups. So, option 3 is the best place to fit in the given sentence.
Five jumbled up sentences, related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd one out and key in the number of the sentence as your answer:
A. You can observe the truth of this in every e-business model ever constructed: monopolise and protect data.
B. Economists and technologists believe that a new kind of capitalism is being created - different from industrial capitalism as was merchant capitalism.
C. In 1962, Kenneth Arrow, the guru of mainstream economics, said that in a free market economy the purpose of inventing things is to create intellectual property rights.
D. There is, alongside the world of monopolised information and surveillance, a different dynamic growing up: information as a social good, incapable of being owned or exploited or priced.
E. Yet information is abundant. Information goods are freely replicable. Once a thing is made, it can be copied and pasted infinitely
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
CA is a clear link. C states that the purpose of inventing things is to create intellectual property rights. Sentence A adds to C. Similarly, DE is a link. D talks of a different dynamic: information as a social good, incapable of being owned, expoited or priced. E adds to the point made in D. CADE is a possible sequence. Only option B is slightly different, about a new kind of capitalism being created.
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: For theoretical purposes, arguments may be considered as freestanding entities, abstracted from their contexts of use in actual human activities.
Paragraph : ___(1)___. An argument can be defined as a complex symbolic structure where some parts, known as the premises, offer support to another part, the conclusion. Alternatively, an argument can be viewed as a complex speech act consisting of one or more acts of premising (which assert propositions in favor of the conclusion), an act of concluding, and a stated or implicit marker ("hence", "therefore") that indicates that the conclusion follows from the premises.___(2)___. The relation of support between premises and conclusion can be cashed out in different ways: the premises may guarantee the truth of the conclusion, or make its truth more probable; the premises may imply the conclusion; the premises may make the conclusion more acceptable (or assertible).___(3)___. But depending on one's explanatory goals, there is also much to be gained from considering arguments as they in fact occur in human communicative practices.___(4)___.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
Option 3 is the most logical place to fit in the given sentence. The given sentence says that for 'theoretical purposes', arguments may be considered as freestanding entities abstracted from their contexts. The line after option 3 puts forth the alternative view: depending on explanatory goals, there is also much to be gained from considering arguments as they in fact occur in human communicative practices.
The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
The rural-urban continuum and the heterogeneity of urban settings pose an obvious challenge to identifying urban areas and measuring urbanization rates in a consistent way within and across countries. An objective methodology for distinguishing between urban and rural areas that is based on one or two metrics with fixed thresholds may not adequately capture the wide diversity of places. A richer combination of criteria would better describe the multifaceted nature of a city’s function and its environment, but the joint interpretation of these criteria may require an element of human judgment.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The main idea of the paragraph is that, given the rural-urban continuum, in order to identify urban areas and measure urbanization rates in a consistent manner we need not only a richer combination of measurable criteria but also some element of human judgement. Option D captures all key ideas.
The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
All humans make decisions based on one or a combination of two factors. This is either intuition or information. Decisions made through intuition are usually fast, people don’t even think about the problem. It is quite philosophical, meaning that someone who made a decision based on intuition will have difficulty explaining the reasoning behind it. The decision-maker would often utilize her senses in drawing conclusions, which again is based on some experience in the field of study. On the other side of the spectrum, we have decisions made based on information. These decisions are rational — it is based on facts and figures, which unfortunately also means that it can be quite slow. The decision-maker would frequently use reports, analyses, and indicators to form her conclusion. This methodology results in accurate, quantifiable decisions, meaning that a person can clearly explain the rationale behind it.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The given paragraph compares intuitive decisions to decisions made based on information, in terms of the speed of decision-making and the ability of the decision maker to explain the rationale behind the decision. Option D captures the essence of the paragraph. Options A and C are limited to intuitive decisions and decisions based on information respectively. Option B does not cover the idea of the ability of the decision maker to explain the rationale behind the decision.
The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
With the Treaty of Westphalia, the papacy had been confined to ecclesiastical functions, and the doctrine of sovereign equality reigned. What political theory could then explain the origin and justify the functions of secular political order? In his Leviathan, published in 1651, three years after the Peace of Westphalia, Thomas Hobbes provided such a theory. He imagined a “state of nature” in the past when the absence of authority produced a “war of all against all.” To escape such intolerable insecurity, he theorized, people delivered their rights to a sovereign power in return for the sovereign’s provision of security for all within the state’s border. The sovereign state’s monopoly on power was established as the only way to overcome the perpetual fear of violent death and war.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
Sentence A is the best opening sentence as it explains the tendency being discussed in the paragraph. The pronoun 'it' in C clearly refers to the brain, mentioned in A. So, AC is a link. AC leads on to D. B, which labels the tendency, is the best concluding sentence.
The four sentences (labelled A, B, C, D) below, when properly sequenced would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer:
A. While you might think that you see or are aware of all the changes that happen in your immediate environment, there is simply too much information for your brain to fully process everything.
B. Psychologists use the term ‘change blindness’ to describe this tendency of people to be blind to changes though they are in the immediate environment.
C. It cannot be aware of every single thing that happens in the world around you.
B. Sometimes big shifts happen in front of your eyes and you are not at all aware of these changes.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
Sentence A is the best opening sentence as it explains the tendency being discussed in the paragraph. The pronoun 'it' in C clearly refers to the brain, mentioned in A. So, AC is a link. AC leads on to D. B, which labels the tendency, is the best concluding sentence.
The four sentences (labelled A, B, C, D) below, when properly sequenced would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer:
A. But the attention of the layman, not surprisingly, has been captured by the atom bomb, although there is at least a chance that it may never be used again.
B. Of all the changes introduced by man into the household of nature, [controlled] large-scale nuclear fission is undoubtedly the most dangerous and most profound.
C. The danger to humanity created by the so-called peaceful uses of atomic energy may, however, be much greater.
D. The resultant ionizing radiation has become the most serious agent of pollution of the environment and the greatest threat to man’s survival on earth.
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
B is the best opening sentence. B states that large-scale nuclear fission is dangerous. D explains how so. So, BD is a sequence about the danger posed by large-scale nuclear fission. Statement A adds to BD, explaining that the attention of the layman, however, directed at the atom bomb instead. C talks of a danger that may be much greater: the danger to humanity by so-called "peaceful uses" of atomic energy. So, BDAC is the correct order.
The author identifies three essential factors according to which theories of aggression are most commonly categorised. Which of the following options is closest to the factors identified by the author?
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The last few lines of the first paragraph have the answer: "The first variable is the aggressor him/herself. The second is the social situation or circumstance in which the aggressive act(s) occur. The third variable is the target or victim of aggression."
The author discusses all of the following arguments in the passage EXCEPT that:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
Only the idea in option A is not mentioned in the passage.
From the first few lines of the passage we know option B is true and from the last few lines line, we know options C and D are true
The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question.
Aggression is any behavior that is directed toward injuring, harming, or inflicting pain on another living being or group of beings. Generally, the victim(s) of aggression must wish to avoid such behavior in order for it to be considered true aggression. Aggression is also categorized according to its ultimate intent. Hostile aggression is an aggressive act that results from anger, and is intended to inflict pain or injury because of that anger. Instrumental aggression is an aggressive act that is regarded as a means to an end other than pain or injury. For example, an enemy combatant may be subjected to torture in order to extract useful intelligence, though those inflicting the torture may have no real feelings of anger or animosity toward their subject. The concept of aggression is very broad, and includes many categories of behavior (e.g., verbal aggression, street crime, child abuse, spouse abuse, group conflict, war, etc.). A number of theories and models of aggression have arisen to explain these diverse forms of behavior, and these theories/models tend to be categorized according to their specific focus. The most common system of categorization groups the various approaches to aggression into three separate areas, based upon the three key variables that are present whenever any aggressive act or set of acts is committed. The first variable is the aggressor him/herself. The second is the social situation or circumstance in which the aggressive act(s) occur. The third variable is the target or victim of aggression.
Regarding theories and research on the aggressor, the fundamental focus is on the factors that lead an individual (or group) to commit aggressive acts. At the most basic level, some argue that aggressive urges and actions are the result of inborn, biological factors. Sigmund Freud (1930) proposed that all individuals are born with a death instinct that predisposes us to a variety of aggressive behaviors, including suicide (self directed aggression) and mental illness (possibly due to an unhealthy or unnatural suppression of aggressive urges). Other influential perspectives supporting a biological basis for aggression conclude that humans evolved with an abnormally low neural inhibition of aggressive impulses (in comparison to other species), and that humans possess a powerful instinct for property accumulation and territorialism. It is proposed that this instinct accounts for hostile behaviors ranging from minor street crime to world wars. Hormonal factors also appear to play a significant role in fostering aggressive tendencies. For example, the hormone testosterone has been shown to increase aggressive behaviors when injected into animals. Men and women convicted of violent crimes also possess significantly higher levels of testosterone than men and women convicted of non violent crimes. Numerous studies comparing different age groups, racial/ethnic groups, and cultures also indicate that men, overall, are more likely to engage in a variety of aggressive behaviors (e.g., sexual assault, aggravated assault, etc.) than women. One explanation for higher levels of aggression in men is based on the assumption that, on average, men have higher levels of testosterone than women.
“[A]n enemy combatant may be subjected to torture in order to extract useful intelligence, though those inflicting the torture may have no real feelings of anger or animosity toward their subject.” Which one of the following best explicates the larger point being made by the author here?
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
A rather easy question. As the line indicates, torturing an enemy combatant for intelligence may be just a means to an end.
All of the following statements can be seen as logically implied by the arguments of the passage EXCEPT:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The passage states that an abnormally low neural regulation of aggressive impulses (not testosterone) in humans accounts for hostile behaviours.
Other statements are implied from the line "Sigmund Freud (1930) proposed that all individuals are born with a death instinct that predisposes us to a variety of aggressive behaviors, including suicide (self directed aggression)..."
The author identifies three essential factors according to which theories of aggression are most commonly categorised. Which of the following options is closest to the factors identified by the author?
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
The last few lines of the first paragraph have the answer: "The first variable is the aggressor him/herself. The second is the social situation or circumstance in which the aggressive act(s) occur. The third variable is the target or victim of aggression."
The author discusses all of the following arguments in the passage EXCEPT that:
Video Explanation

Explanatory Answer
Only the idea in option A is not mentioned in the passage.
From the first few lines of the passage we know option B is true and from the last few lines line, we know options C and D are true