Q1. Read the passage carefully and answer the following question.
Geologists have been investigating a potential cycle in geological events for a long time. Back in the 1920s and 30s, scientists of the era had suggested that the geological record had a 30-million-year cycle, while in the 1980s and 90s researchers used the best-dated geological events at the time to give them a range of the length between ‘pulses’ of 26.2 to 30.6 million years. Now, everything seems to be in order -27.5 million years is right about where we’d expect. A study late last year suggested that this 27.5-million-year mark is when
mass extinctions happen, too.
Which of the following statements can be BEST concluded from the passage?
A Not all species go extinct once every 27.5 million years
B “Pulse” between geological events is constant
C All species go extinct once every 27.5 million years
D Geological disasters happen sporadically
E Mass extinctions and “geological pulse” are correlated
EXPLANATION
E
The paragraph talks about how geological events occur in a cycle, and research has found the period of the
cycle to be around 27.5million years. It also mentions that mass extinctions occur at this 27.5millions years,
too.
From this we can see that geological events and mass extinctions both occur around the same time and thus
are correlated to each other. Hence, option E is the answer.
Option A: the passage mentions that mass extinctions happen every 27.5million years, but it is not the main
idea of the passage.
Option B: The passage says that the length between pulses is 26.2 and 30.6million years and in general occurs
around 27.5million years. Thus, it is not a constant value.
Option C: It is incorrect since the paragraph only talks about mass extinction. Whether all species go extinct or
not is not mentioned.
Option D: The passage is talking about geological events occurring in a cycle. Hence, it is incorrect.
Q2. Read the passage carefully and answer the following question.
One theory of accidents is what experts call the Swiss Cheese model. A slab of swiss cheese has several holes, randomly and unevenly distributed over its surface. If several slabs are stacked together, it would be impossible for something to slip through unless all the holes happen to line up.
If even one slab doesn’t align, the impending catastrophe will meet a layer of resistance, and the worst is averted. Aviation professionals will tell you that plane crashes never happen for a single reason. There may be an identifiable primary factor, but it’s usually a chain of events, an array of circumstances neatly piling up.
Which of the following statements can be BEST concluded from the passage?
A Averting catastrophe is actually easier than it seems
B Any historically relevant event is an accident because it involves a chain of preceding events
C Accidents cannot be averted since a chain of events have to be averted to avert accidents
D A catastrophe can be averted if the preceding array of events meets resistance
E Any disaster is a culmination of many events happening in a particular order
EXPLANATION
D
The paragraph talks about how catastrophes result from a chain of events that may be identifiable beforehand.
The author also mentions, with the example of swiss cheese, “If even one slab doesn’t align, the impending
catastrophe will meet a layer of resistance, and the worst is averted.” That if any of the events that lead to a
disaster meet some resistance, the catastrophe can be averted.
Hence, the answer is option D.
Q3. Read the excerpt carefully and answer the following question.
The over-whelming preponderance of people have not freely decided what to believe, but, rather, have been socially conditioned (indoctrinated) into their beliefs. They are unreflective thinkers.
Which of the following statements CANNOT be concluded from the excerpt?
A A normal thinker finds it difficult to recognize what is happening to them
B Beliefs that appear normal and natural heighten their acceptance
C A lot of people end up believing what they passionately oppose
D Things that we do automatically need to be reflected upon
E The inability to criticize one’s belief leads to indoctrination
EXPLANATION
C
The paragraph states that people are unreflective thinkers and are socially indoctrinated into their beliefs. They did not decide what to believe by themselves.
Option C mentions people believing what they oppose, which is not mentioned in the passage. Hence, the answer is option C.
Q4. Read the passage carefully and answer the following question.
Labouring is simply what we do to survive. We labour to eat. To keep our bodies healthy. To keep roof over our heads, and to keep life reproducing. All animals labour, with or without coaxing…. There’s nothing special
about labour, save for thefact that without it we would die.
Work, on the other hand, gives collective meaning to what we do. When we work to produce something we both put something into and leave something lasting in the world: a table, a house, a book, a car, a rug, a high precision piece of engineering with which we can order the days into time, or keep a body breathing.
Which of the following statements can be BEST concluded from the passage?
A Labour enables us to survive while work makes survival meaningful
B Doing what is asked of a role is labour, while going beyond the role is work
C Unacknowledged work is labour, while acknowledgement makes it work
D To be healthy needs labour, while making others healthy is work
E Terrace gardening is labour, while producing a vaccine is work
EXPLANATION
A
The paragraph’s main idea is that labour is something we do for a living while work is different.
Option B is incorrect as the paragraph doesn’t say that labour is something we do for a role. Options C and D
are not mentioned in the paragraph. Option E gives an example, and it is not the whole idea of the given paragraph.
Answer is option A
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