CAT 2021 Discussions

MBA
101

RC Practice - 4th July

Fame and fortune are both mysterious and fickle. What is it that makes one person wealthy  and famous, while the rest of his or her friends or colleagues are left behind? While it's true  that money can't buy you happiness, at least on a long-term basis, it can definitely buy you  the freedom to do what you want in life. And that is worth a lot. While most everyone harbors a secret (or maybe not-so-secret) desire to be either rich,  famous--or both--this is particularly true for members of the Millennial generation.  According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 81 percent of Millennials said  that getting rich is their generation's first or second most important life goal, and 51 percent  said the same about getting famous. So, what is it exactly that the rich and famous do differently from the rest of us, and how can  you adopt some of these habits in your own life? History might have a lesson here. In popular wisdom, fame and fortune are often associated with virtue, industry, and a host of  other attributes. However, random strokes of fate often determine such success and said  commonly perceived virtues prove irrelevant. For instance, decades after her death, Coco  Chanel remains the epitome of French fashion and her name, as well as the company she  founded, is known throughout the world. Yet, few realize that she, while undeniably talented,  initially succeeded by leveraging her status as a courtesan. As a company owner, it would be  an understatement to say that she was not known for her generous treatment of her  employees. During the Nazi occupation, she lived a privileged life at the Hotel Ritz and her  lover at the time was a German intelligence operative. Conversely, there is the example of Madeleine Vionnet, a professional contemporary of  Chanel. She is often credited with permanently transforming fashion through her use of the  bias cut—cutting material against the grain of the fabric. In the 1930’s, her gowns were worn  by Hollywood stars, and her standing was second to none. She was also, in many ways, an  early feminist, establishing largely unheard of employee benefits—such as day care and  medicalcare—for her largely female staff. In addition, she lobbied for fashion copyright  protections. When the Second World War broke out, she closed her business and simply  retired. Today, she is largely unknown outside of the fashion industry. 

1. The author wrote the passage to posit which of the following? 

(A) that the relationship between virtue and success is inverse 

(B) that an inferior designer was more successful than a superior one 

(C) to contrast the aesthetic of Chanel to that of Vionnet 

(D) to suggest that no causal relationship exists between personal qualities and professional  legacy 

2. The author discusses the employee benefits offered by Vionnet in order to 

(A) differentiate her from Chanel 

(B) illustrate Vionnet’s admirable qualities

(C) highlight the fact that virtues are no guarantee of success 

(D) demonstrate the economic burden of her decisions that might have led to her failure

3. The Pew research shows all but which of the following about millenials? 

(A) They are peculiarly fascinated with renown and riches 

(B) Getting wealthy is one of their top priorities in life 

(C) Their yearning for money and fame is not always evident 

(D) On average, they desire fortune more than fame 

4. Which of the following assertions about Chanel has been made by the author? (A) She was not talented, but just lucky to have become so renowned 

(B) Her success is attributable, at least in part, to her earlier profession 

(C) She worked with the Nazi camp and was associated with a German intelligence officer 

(D) She was generous to her employees

Answers of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/vxxOFIOGcj0

102

RC Practice - 5th July

In 1977 the prestigious Ewha Women’s University in Seoul, Korea, announced the opening  of the first women’s studies program in Asia. Few academic programs have ever received  such public attention. In broadcast debates, critics dismissed the program as a betrayal of  national identity, an imitation of Western ideas, and a distraction from the real task of  national unification and economic development. Even supporters underestimated the  program; they thought it would be merely another of the many Western ideas that had already  proved useful in Asian culture, akin to airlines, electricity, and the assembly line. The  founders of the program, however, realized that neither view was correct. They had some  reservations about the applicability of Western feminist theories to the role of women in Asia  and felt that such theories should be closely examined. Their approach has thus far yielded  important critiques of Western theory, informed by the special experience of Asian women. For instance, like the Western feminist critique of the Freudian model of the human psyche,  the Korean critique finds Freudian theory culture-bound, but in ways different from those  cited by Western theorists. The Korean theorists claim that Freudian theory assumes the  universality of the Western nuclear, male-headed family and focuses on the personality  formation of the individual, independent of society. An analysis based on such assumptions  could be valid for a highly competitive, individualistic society. In the Freudian family drama,  family members are assumed to be engaged in a Darwinian struggle against each other— father against son and sibling against sibling. Such a concept projects the competitive model  of Western society onto human personalities. But in the Asian concept of personality there is  no ideal attached to individualism or to the independent self. The Western model of  personality development does not explain major characteristics of the Korean personality,  which is social and group-centered. The “self” is a social being defined by and acting in a  group, and the well-being of both men and women is determined by the equilibrium of the  group, not by individual self-assertion. The ideal is one of interdependency. In such a context, what is recognized as “dependency” in Western psychiatric terms is not, in  Korean terms, an admission of weakness or failure. All this bears directly on the Asian  perception of men’s and women’s psychology because men are also “dependent.” In Korean  culture, men cry and otherwise easily show their emotions, something that might be  considered a betrayal of masculinity in Western culture. In the kinship-based society of  Korea, four generations may live in the same house, which means that people can be sons and  daughters all their lives, whereas in Western culture, the roles of husband and son, wife and  daughter, are often incompatible. 

1. Which of the following is NOT necessarily true of the family structures in Western  and Korean cultures? 

(A) the former is based on the ideal of competition among the members while the latter is  based on the ideal of cooperation 

(B) a family member in the West would generally find himself torn between shouldering the  responsibilities of being a father and a son at once 

(C) a Western family man is more repressive than a Korean counterpart 

(D) domestic disharmony is more common in the Western families than in the Korean ones 

2. Which of the following best summarizes the content of the passage? 

(A) A critique of a particular women’s studies program 

(B) A report of work in social theory done by a particular women’s studies program 

(C) An assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of a particular women’s studies program 

(D) An analysis of the philosophy underlying women’s studies programs

3. Which of the following conclusions about the introduction of Western ideas to  Korean society can be supported by information contained in the passage?

(A) Except for technological innovations, few Western ideas have been successfully  transplanted into Korean society. 

(B) The introduction of Western ideas to Korean society is viewed by some Koreans as a  challenge to Korean identity. 

(C) The development of the Korean economy depends heavily on the development of new  academic programs modeled after Western programs. 

(D) The extent to which Western ideas must be adapted for acceptance by Korean society is  minimal. 

4. It can be inferred from the passage that the broadcast media in Korea considered the  establishment of the Ewha women’s studies program 

(A) imitative 

(B) insignificant 

(C) newsworthy 

(D) praiseworthy 

5. It can be inferred from the passage that the position taken by some of the supporters  of the Ewha women’s studies program was problematic to the founders of the program  because those supporters 

(A) assumed that the program would be based on the uncritical adoption of Western theory 

(B) failed to show concern for the issues of national unification and economic development 

(C) were unfamiliar with Western feminist theory 

(D) accepted the universality of Freudian theory 

6. Which of the following statements about the Western feminist critique of Freudian  theory can be supported by information contained in the passage? 

(A) It recognizes that the Freudian theory is contextual 

(B) It was written after 1977. 

(C) It acknowledges the universality of the nuclear, male-headed family. 

(D) It challenges Freud’s analysis of the role of daughters in Western society 

Answers of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/wgZjHcvRjj8

103

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104

RC Practice - 7th July

Since the 1970s, economic and occupational insecurity has become a major problem for  American workers, their families, and their communities. While outsourcing, the busting and  decline of unionization and welfare supports, and the rise of immigration, the prison?industrial complex, and unemployment have brought increased competition and considerable  economic insecurity to working-class employees in the "traditional" blue-collar fields, there  is an increasing demand for service personnel, including clerical and retail occupations.  Sociologist Gosta Esping-Anderson describes these supervised service occupations as "junk  jobs," as they fail to pay living wages in the face of asset and price inflation, fail to pay  benefits, are often insecure, unstable, or temporary, and provide little work control and little  opportunity for skill development or advancement Since the early 1970’s, historians have begun to devote serious attention to the working class  in the United States. Yet while we now have studies of working-class communities and  culture, we know remarkably little of worklessness. When historians have paid any attention  at all to unemployment, they have focused on the Great Depression of the 1930’s. The  narrowness of this perspective ignores the pervasive recessions and joblessness of the  previous decades, as Alexander Robin shows in his recent book. Examining the period 1870- 1920, Robin concentrates on Massachusetts, where the historical materials are particularly  rich, and the findings applicable to other industrial areas. The unemployment rates that Robin calculates appear to be relatively modest, at least by  Great Depression standards: during the worst years, in the 1870’s and 1890’s, unemployment  was around 15 percent. Yet Robin rightly understands that a better way to measure the impact  of unemployment is to calculate unemployment frequencies—measuring the percentage of  workers who experience any unemployment in the course of a year. Given this perspective,  joblessness looms much larger. Robin also scrutinizes unemployment patterns according to skill level, ethnicity, race, age,  class, and gender. He finds that rates of joblessness differed primarily according to class:  those in middle-class and white-collar occupations were far less likely to be unemployed. Yet  the impact of unemployment on a specific class was not always the same. Even when  dependent on the same trade, adjoining communities could have dramatically different  unemployment rates. Robin uses these differential rates to help explain a phenomenon that  has puzzled historians—the startlingly high rate of geographical mobility in the nineteenth?century United States. But mobility was not the dominant working-class strategy for coping  with unemployment, nor was assistance from private charities or state agencies. Self-help and  the help of kin got most workers through jobless spells. While Robin might have spent more time developing the implications of his findings on  joblessness for contemporary public policy, his study, in its thorough research and creative  use of quantitative and qualitative evidence, is a model of historical analysis. 

1. The passage is primarily concerned with 

(A) recommending a new course of investigation 

(B) estimating unemployment rates in the latter half of 19th century United States 

(C) summarizing and assessing a study 

(D) comparing and contrasting two methods for calculating data 

2. The passage suggests that before the early 1970’s, which of the following was true of  the study by historians of the working class in the United States? 

(A) The study was infrequent or superficial, or both. 

(B) The study was repeatedly criticized for its allegedly narrow focus. 

(C) The study focused more on the working-class community than on working-class culture. 

(D) The study ignored working-class joblessness during the Great Depression.

3. According to the passage, which of the following is true of Robin’s findings  concerning unemployment in Massachusetts? 

(A) They tend to contradict earlier findings about such unemployment. 

(B) They are possible because Massachusetts has the most easily accessible historical  records. 

(C) They are the first to mention the existence of high rates of geographical mobility in the  nineteenth century. 

(D) They are relevant to a historical understanding of the nature of unemployment in other  states. 

4. Which of the following statements about the unemployment rate during the Great  Depression can be inferred from the passage? 

(A) It was sometimes higher than 15 percent. 

(B) It has been analyzed seriously only since the early 1970’s. 

(C) It can be calculated more easily than can unemployment frequency. 

(D) It has been shown by Robin to be lower than previously thought. 

5. The author views Robin’s study with 

(A) wary concern 

(B) polite skepticism 

(C) scrupulous neutrality 

(D) qualified admiration 

6. Which of the following, if true, would most strongly support Robin’s findings as they  are described by the author? 

(A) Boston, Massachusetts, and Quincy, Massachusetts, adjoining communities, had a higher  rate of unemployment for working-class people in 1870 than in 1890. 

(B) White-collar professionals such as attorneys had as much trouble as day laborers in  maintaining a steady level of employment throughout the period 1870-1920. 

(C) Working-class women living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, were more likely than  working-class men living in Cambridge to be unemployed for some period of time during the  year 1873. 

(D) In the 1890’s, shoe-factory workers moved away in large numbers from Chelmsford,  Massachusetts, where shoe factories were being replaced by other industries, to adjoining  West Chelmsford, where the shoe industry flourished.

Answers of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/N90d_SAqaYM

105

 

RC Practice - 8th July

It is frequently assumed that the mechanization of work has a revolutionary effect on the lives of the  people who operate the new machines and on the society into which the machines have been  introduced. For example, it has been suggested that the employment of women in industry took  them out of the household, their traditional sphere, and fundamentally altered their position in  society. In the nineteenth century, when women began to enter factories, Jules Simon, a French  politician, warned that by doing so, women would give up their femininity. Friedrich Engels,  however, predicted that women would be liberated from the “social, legal, and economic  subordination” of the family by technological developments that made possible the recruitment of  “the whole female sex into public industry.” Observers thus differed concerning the social  desirability of mechanization’s effects, but they agreed that it would transform women’s lives. Historians, particularly those investigating the history of women, now seriously question this  assumption of transforming power. They conclude that such dramatic technological innovations as  the spinning jenny, the sewing machine, the typewriter, and the vacuum cleaner have not resulted in  equally dramatic social changes in women’s economic position or in the prevailing evaluation of  women’s work. The employment of young women in textile mills during the Industrial Revolution  was largely an extension of an older pattern of employment of young, single women as domestics. It  was not the change in office technology, but rather the separation of secretarial work, previously  seen as an apprenticeship for beginning managers, from administrative work that in the 1880’s  created a new class of “dead-end” jobs, thenceforth considered “women’s work.” The increase in  the numbers of married women employed outside the home in the twentieth century had less to do  with the mechanization of housework and an increase in leisure time for these women than it did  with their own economic necessity and with high marriage rates that shrank the available pool of  single women workers, previously, in many cases, the only women employers would hire. Women’s work has changed considerably in the past 200 years, moving from the household to the  office or the factory, and later becoming mostly white-collar instead of blue-collar work.  Fundamentally, however, the conditions under which women work have changed little since before  the Industrial Revolution: the segregation of occupations by gender, lower pay for women as a  group, jobs that require relatively low levels of skill and offer women little opportunity for  advancement all persist, while women’s household labor remains demanding. Recent historical  investigation has led to a major revision of the notion that technology is always inherently  revolutionary in its effects on society. Mechanization may even have slowed any change in the  traditional position of women both in the labor market and in the home. 

1. Which of the following statements best summarizes the main idea of the passage? 

(A) The effects of the mechanization of women’s work have not borne out the frequently held  assumption that new technology is inherently revolutionary. 

(B) Recent studies have shown that mechanization revolutionizes a society’s traditional values and  the customary roles of its members. 

(C) Mechanization has caused the nature of women’s work to change since the Industrial Revolution. 

(D) The mechanization of work creates whole new classes of jobs that did not previously exist. 

2. It can be inferred from the passage that, before the Industrial Revolution, the majority of  women’s work was done in which of the following settings? 

(A) Textile mills 

(B) Private households 

(C) Offices 

(D) Factories 

3. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would consider which of the following to be  an indication of a fundamental alteration in the conditions of women’s work? 

(A) Statistics showing that the majority of women now occupy white-collar positions

(B) Interviews with married men indicating that they are now doing some household tasks 

(C) Surveys of the labor market documenting the recent creation of a new class of jobs in electronics  in which women workers outnumber men four to one 

(D) Census results showing that working women’s wages and salaries are, on the average, as high as  those of working men 

4. The passage states that, before the twentieth century, which of the following was true of many  employers? 

(A) They did not employ women in factories. 

(B) They tended to employ single rather than married women. 

(C) They employed women in only those jobs that were related to women’s traditional household  work. 

(D) They resisted technological innovations that would radically change women’s roles in the family. 

5. It can be inferred from the passage that the author most probably believes which of the  following to be true concerning those historians who study the history of women? 

(A) Their work provides insights important to those examining social phenomena affecting the lives  of both sexes. 

(B) Their work can only be used cautiously by scholars in other disciplines. 

(C) Because they concentrate only on the role of women in the workplace, they draw more reliable  conclusions than do other historians. 

(D) While highly interesting, their work has not had an impact on most historians’ current  assumptions concerning the revolutionary effect of technology in the workplace. 

6. Which of the following best describes the function of the concluding sentence of the passage? 

(A) It sums up the general points concerning the mechanization of work made in the passage as a  whole. 

(B) It draws a conclusion concerning the effects of the mechanization of work which goes beyond the  evidence presented in the passage as a whole. 

(C) It restates the point concerning technology made in the sentence immediately preceding it. 

(D) It qualifies the author’s agreement with scholars who argue for a major revision in the  assessment of the impact of mechanization on society.

Answers of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/ZWl_94C7VZw

106

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107

RC Practice - 9th July

Although training in ethics is currently provided by medical schools, this training relies  heavily on an abstract, philosophical view of ethics. Although the conceptual clarity provided  by a traditional ethics course can be valuable, theorizing about ethics contributes little to the  understanding of everyday human experience or to preparing medical students for the  multifarious ethical dilemmas they will face as physicians. A true foundation in ethics must  be predicated on an understanding of human behavior that reflects a wide array of  relationships and readily adapts to various perspectives, for this is what is required to develop  empathy. Ethics courses drawing on narrative literature can better help students prepare for  ethical dilemmas precisely because such literature attaches its readers so forcefully to the  concrete and varied world of human events. The act of reading narrative literature is uniquely suited to the development of what might be  called flexible ethical thinking. To grasp the development of character, to tangle with  heightening moral crises, and to engage oneself with the story not as one’s own but  nevertheless as something recognizable and worthy of attention, readers must use their moral  imagination. Giving oneself over to the ethical conflicts in a story requires the abandonment  of strictly absolute, inviolate sets of moral principles. Reading literature also demands that  the reader adopt another person’s point of view –that of the narrator or a character in a  story—and thus requires the ability to depart from one’s personal ethical stance and examine  moral issues from new perspectives. It does not follow that readers, including medical professionals, must relinquish all moral  principles, as is the case with situational ethics, in which decisions about ethical choices are  made on the basis of intuition and are entirely relative to the circumstances in which they  arise. Such an extremely relativistic stance would have as little benefit for the patient or  physician as would a dogmatically absolutist one. Fortunately, the incorporation of narrative  literature into the study of ethics, while serving as a corrective to the later stance, need not  lead to the former. But it can give us something that is lacking in the traditional philosophical  study of ethics—namely, a deeper understanding of human nature that can serve as a  foundation for ethical reasoning and allow greater flexibility in the application of moral  principles. 

1. Which one of the following most accurately states the main point of the passage? 

(A) Training in ethics that incorporates narrative literature would better cultivate flexible  ethical thinking and increase medical students’ capacity for empathetic patient care as  compared with the traditional approach of medical schools to such training. 

(B) Traditional abstract ethical training, because it is too heavily focused on theoretical  reasoning, tends to decrease or impair that medical student’s sensitivity to modern ethical  dilemmas. 

(C) Only a properly designed curriculum that balances situational, abstract, and narrative  approaches to ethics will adequately prepare the medical student for complex ethical  confrontations involving actual patients. 

(D) The study of narrative literature in medical schools would nurture moral intuition,  enabling the future doctor to make ethical decisions without appeal to general principles. 

2. Which one of the following most accurately represents the author’s use of the term ―moral  imagination in the third paragraph? 

(A) a sense of curiosity, aroused by reading, that leads one to follow actively the  development of problems involving the characters depicted in narratives.

(B) A faculty of seeking out and recognizing the ethical controversies involved in human  relationships and identifying oneself with one side or another in such controversies 

(C) A capacity to understand the complexities of various ethical dilemmas and to fashion  creative and innovative solutions to them 

(D) An ability to understand personal aspects of ethically significant situations even if one is  not a direct participant and to empathize with those involved in them. 

3. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would most likely agree with which one  of the following statements? 

(A) Students learn more about ethics through the use of fiction than through the use of non?fictional readings. 

(B) The traditional method of ethical training in medical schools should be supplemented or  replaced by more direct practical experience with real-life patients in ethically difficult  situations. 

(C) The failing of an abstract, philosophical training in ethics can be remedied only by  replacing it with a purely narrative-based approach. 

(D) Neither scientific training nor traditional philosophical ethics adequately prepares doctors  to deal with the emotional dimension of patients’ needs.

4. Which one of the following is most likely the author’s overall purpose in the passage? 

(A) To advise medical schools on how to implement a narrative-based approach to ethics in  their curricula. 

(B) To argue that the current methods of ethics education are counterproductive to the  formation of empathetic doctor-patient relationships. 

(C) To propose an approach to ethical training in medical school that will preserve the human  dimension of medicine. 

(D) To demonstrate the value of a well-designed ethics education for medical students. 

5. The passage ascribes each of the following characteristics to the use of narrative literature  in ethical education EXCEPT: 

(A) It tends to avoid the extreme relativism of situational ethics. 

(B) It can help insulate future doctors from the shock of the ethical dilemmas they will  confront. 

(C) It can help lead medical students to develop new ways of dealing with patients. 

(D) It requires students to examine moral issues from new perspectives. 

6. The author’s attitude regarding the traditional method of teaching ethics in medical school  can most accurately be described as 

(A) unqualified disapproval of the method and disapproval of all of its effects 

(B) reserved judgment regarding the method and disapproval of all of its effects (C) partial disapproval of the method and clinical indifference toward its effects (D) partial disapproval of the method and approval of some of its effects

Answers of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/7LoqB8V1xZI

108

RC Practice - 10th July

In explaining the foundations of the discipline known as historical sociology—the  examination of history using the methods of sociology—historical sociologist Alexander  Frank argues that, while people are made by society as much as society is made by people, sociologists’ approach to the subject is usually to focus on only one of these forms of  influence to the exclusion of the other. Frank insists on the necessity for sociologists to move  beyond these one-sided approaches to understand society as an entity constructed by  individuals who are at the same time constructed by their society. Frank refers to this  continuous process as “structuring”. Frank also sees history as the result of structuring. People, both individually and as members  of collectives, make history. But our making of history is itself formed and informed not only  by the historical conditions we inherit from the past, but also by the prior formation of our  own identities and capacities, which are shaped by what Frank calls “contingencies”—social  phenomena over which we have varying degrees of control. Contingencies include such  things as the social conditions under which we come of age, the condition of our household’s  economy, the ideologies available to help us make sense of our situation, and accidental  circumstances. The ways in which contingencies affect our individual or group identities  create a structure of forces within which we are able to act, and that partially determines the  sorts of actions we are able to perform. In Frank’s analysis, historical structuring, like social structuring, is manifold and unremitting.  To understand it, historical sociologists must extract from it certain significant episodes, or  events, that their methodology can then analyze and interpret. According to Frank, these  events are points at which action and contingency meet, points that represent a cross section  of the specific social and individual forces in play at a given time. At such moments,  individuals stand forth as agents of history not simply because they possess a unique ability  to act, but also because in them we see the force of the specific social conditions that allowed  their actions to come forth. Individuals can “make their mark” on history, yet in individuals  one also finds the convergence of wider social forces. In order to capture the various facets of  this mutual interaction, Frank recommends a fourfold structure to which he believes the  investigations of historical sociologists should conform: first, description of the event itself;  second, discussion of the social context that helped bring the event about and gave it  significance; third, summary of the life history of the individual agent in the event; and  fourth, analysis of the consequences of the event both for history and for the individual. 

1. Given the passage’s argument, which one of the following sentences most logically  completes the last paragraph? 

(A) By adhering to this structure, Frank believes, historical sociologists will be able to better  portray the complex connections between human agency and history. 

(B) Only if they adhere to this structure, Frank believes, will historical sociologists be able to  counter the standard sociological assumption that there is very little connection between  history and individual agency. 

(C) Unless they can agree to adhere to this structure, Frank believes, historical sociologists  risk having their discipline treated as little more than an interesting but ultimately  indefensible adjunct to history and sociology. 

(D) By adhering to this structure, Frank believes, historical sociologists can shed light on  issues that traditional sociologists have chosen to ignore in their one-sided approaches to the  formation of societies. 

2. The passage states that a contingency could be each of the following EXCEPT: 

(A) a social phenomenon

(B) a form of historical structuring 

(C) a condition controllable to some extent by an individual 

(D) a partial determinant of an individual’s actions 

3. Which one of the following is most analogous to the ideal work of a historical sociologist  as outlined by Frank? 

(A) In a report on the enactment of a bill into law, a journalist explains why the need for the  bill arose, sketches the biography of the principal legislator who wrote the bill, and ponders  the effect that the bill’s enactment will have both one society and on the legislator’s career. 

(B) In a consultation with a patient, a doctor reviews the patient’s medical history, suggests  possible reasons for the patient’s current condition, and recommends steps that the patient  should take in the future to ensure that the condition improves or at least does not get any  worse. 

(C) In an analysis of a historical novel, a critic provides information to support the claim that  details of the work’s setting are accurate, explains why the subject of the novel was of  particular interest to the author, and compares the novel with some of the author’s other  books set in the same period. 

(D) In a presentation to stockholders, a corporation’s chief executive officer describes the  corporations’ most profitable activities during the past year, introduces the vice president  largely responsible for those activities, and discusses new projects the vice president will  initiate in the coming year. 

4. The primary function of the first paragraph of the passage is to 

(A) outline the merits of Frank’s conception of historical sociology 

(B) convey the details of Frank’s conception of historical sociology 

(C) examine the roles of key terms used in Frank’s conception of historical sociology 

(D) identify the basis of Frank’s conception of historical sociology 

5. Based on the passage, which one of the following is the LEAST illustrative example of the  effect of a contingency upon an individual? 

(A) the effect of the fact that a person experienced political injustice on that person’s decision  to work for political reform 

(B) the effect of the fact that a person was raised in an agricultural region on that person’s  decision to pursue a career in agriculture 

(C) the effect of the fact that a person lives in a particular community on that person’s  decision to visit friends in another community 

(D) the effect of the fact that a person’s parents practiced a particular religion on that person’s  decision to practice that religion 

Answers of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/S3jBTQk_QR4

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RC Practice - 11th July

While African-American literature is well accepted in the United States, there are  numerous views on its significance, traditions, and theories. To the genre's supporters,  African-American literature arose out of the experience of Blacks in the United States,  especially with regards to historic racism and discrimination, and is an attempt to refute  the dominant culture's literature and power. In addition, supporters see the literature  existing both within and outside American literature and as helping to revitalize the  country's writing. To critics, African-American literature is part of a Balkanization of  American literature. In addition, there are some within the African-American  community who do not like how their own literature sometimes showcases Black  people. In broad terms, African-American literature can be defined as writings by people of  African descent living in the United States. It is highly varied. African-American  literature has generally focused on the role of African Americans within the larger  American society and what it means to be an American. Among the themes and issues  explored in this literature are the role of African Americans within the larger American  society, African-American culture, racism, slavery, and social equality. African-American  writing has tended to incorporate oral forms, such as spirituals, sermons, gospel music,  blues, or rap. One of the most prominent scholars of African-American literature is Jean Wagner. Jean  Wagner’s most enduring contribution to the study of Afro-American poetry is his insistence that it be analyzed in a religious, as well as secular, frame of reference. The  appropriateness of such an approach may seem self-evident for a tradition commencing  with spirituals and owing its early forms, rhythms, vocabulary, and evangelical fervor to  Wesleyan hymnals. But before Wagner a secular outlook that analyzed Black poetry  solely within the context of political and social protest was dominant in the field. It is Wagner who first demonstrated the essential fusion of racial and religious feeling in  Afro-American poetry. The two, he argued, form a symbiotic union in which religious  feelings are often applied to racial issues and racial problems are often projected onto a  metaphysical plane. Wagner found this most eloquently illustrated in the Black spiritual,  where the desire for freedom in this world and the hope for salvation in the next are  inextricably intertwined. 

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to 

(A) introduce African-American literature and Jean Wagner’s influence on the same 

(B) document the influence of Jean Wagner on the evolution of Afro-American poetry 

(C) explain the relevance of Jean Wagner’s work to the study of Afro-American religion 

(D) indicate the importance of Jean Wagner’s analysis of Afro-American poetry 

2. All of the following aspects of Afro-American poetry are referred to in the passage as  having been influenced by Wesleyan hymnals EXCEPT: 

(A) subject matter 

(B) word choice 

(C) structure 

(D) tone

3. It can be inferred from the passage that, before Wagner, most students of Afro-American poetry did which of the following? 

(A) Contributed appreciably to the transfer of political protest from Afro-American  poetry to direct political action. 

(B) Ignored at least some of the historical roots of Afro-American poetry. 

(C) Analyzed fully the aspects of social protest to be found in such traditional forms of  Afro-American poetry as the Black spiritual. 

(D) Regarded as unimportant the development of fervent emotionalism in a portion of  Afro-American poetry. 

4. According to the author, all but which of the following is true of Afro-American  literature? 

(A) It is at once a part of and independent of American literature 

(B) Not all the members of the community that it represents empathize with it (C) It is formed primarily of Blacks’ experiences in America in times of slavery 

(D) It is sometimes seen as a confrontation to American literature 

5. Which of the following, if true, would weaken the author’s central argument? (A) The poetry produced by Afro-American poets had long been viewed in context of  Blacks’ religious experiences even before Wagner. 

(B) The religious elements in the Afro-American literature are exceptional to a few  prominent poets, rather than all. 

(C) Racism was a predominant theme in most of the Afro-American poetry 

(D) Even the American community concedes that the Blacks’ experiences in the US were  primarily formed out of their religious affiliations 

Answers of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/zmQkIzGLKWg

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RC Practice - 12th July

The myth persists that in 1492 the Western Hemisphere was an untamed wilderness and that it was  European settlers who harnessed and transformed its ecosystems. But scholarship shows that forests, in  particular, had been altered to varying degrees well before the arrival of Europeans. Native populations had  converted much of the forests to successfully cultivated stands, especially by means of burning.  Nevertheless, some researchers have maintained that the extent, frequency, and impact of such burning was  minimal. One geographer claims that climatic change could have accounted for some of the changes in  forest composition; another argues that burning by native populations was done only sporadically, to  augment the effects of natural fires. However, a large body of evidence for the routine practice of burning exists in the geographical record. One  group of researchers found, for example, that sedimentary charcoal accumulations in what is now the  northeastern United States are greatest where known native American settlements were greatest. Other  evidence shows that, while the characteristics and impact of fires set by native populations varied regionally  according to population size, extent of resource management techniques, and environment, all such fires had  markedly different effects on vegetation pattern than did natural fires. Controlled burning created grassy  openings such as meadows and glades. Burning also promoted a mosaic quality to North and South  American ecosystems, creating forests in many different stages of ecological development. Much of the  mature forestland was characterized by open herbaceous undergrowth, another result of the clearing brought  about by burning. In North America, controlled burning created conditions favourable to berries and other fire-tolerant and  sun-loving foods. Burning also converted mixed stands of trees to homogeneous forest, for example the  longleaf, slash pine, and scrub oak forests of the southeastern U.S. Natural fires do account for some of this  vegetation, but regular burning clearly extended and maintained it. Burning also influenced forest  composition in the tropics, where natural fires are rare. An example is the pine-dominant forests of  Nicaragua, where warm temperatures and heavy rainfall naturally favor mixed tropical or rain forests. While  they primarily grow in cooler, drier, higher elevations, regions where such vegetation is in large part natural  and even prehumen, today, the Nicaraguan pines also occur where there has been clearing followed by  regular burning, and the same is likely to have occurred in the past: such forests were present when  Europeans arrived and were found only in areas where native settlements were substantial; when these  settlements were abandoned, the land returned to mixed hardwoods. This succession is also evident  elsewhere in similar low tropical elevations in the Caribbean and Mexico. 1. Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main idea of the passage? 

(A) Despite extensive evidence that native populations had been burning North and South American forests  extensively before 1492, some scholars persist in claiming that such burning was either infrequent or the  result of natural causes. (B) In opposition to the widespread belief that in 1492 the Western hemisphere was uncultivated, scholars  unanimously agree that naive population were substantially altering North and South American forests well  before the arrival of Europeans. 

(C) Although some scholars minimize the scope and importance of the burning of forests engaged in by  native populations of North and South American before 1492, evidence of the frequency and impact of such  burning is actually quite extensive. 

(D) Where scholars had once believed that North and South American forests remained uncultivated until  the arrival of Europeans, there is now general agreement that native populations had been cultivating the  forests since well before 1492. 

2. It can be inferred that a forest burned as described in the passage would have been LEAST likely to  display 

(A) numerous types of hardwood trees 

(B) extensive herbaceous undergrowth 

(C) various stages of ecological maturity 

(D) grassy opening such as meadows or glades

3. The “succession” mentioned in last line refers to 

(A) forest clearing followed by controlled burning of forests 

(B) tropical rain forest followed by pine forest 

(C) European settlement followed by abandonment of land 

(D) homogeneous pine forest followed by mixed hardwoods 

4. Which one of the following is presented by the author as evidence of controlled burning in the tropics  before the arrival of Europeans? 

(A) extensive homogeneous forests at high elevation 

(B) extensive homogeneous forests at low elevation 

(C) extensive heterogeneous forests at high elevation 

(D) extensive sedimentary charcoal accumulations at high elevation 

5. With which one of the following would the author be most likely to agree? 

(A) The long-term effects of controlled burning could just as easily have been caused by natural fires. 

(B) Nicaraguan pine forests could have been created either by natural fires or by controlled burning. 

(C) European settlers had little impact on the composition of the ecosystems in North and South America. 

(D) Certain species of plants may not have been as abundant in North America without controlled burning. 

6. As evidence for the routine practice of forest burning by native populations before the arrival of  Europeans, the author cites all of the following EXCEPT: 

(A) The similar characteristics of fires in different regions. 

(B) The simultaneous presence of forests at varying stages of maturity 

(C) The existence of herbaceous undergrowth in certain forests 

(D) The heavy accumulation of charcoal near populous settlements 

Answers of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/kwMAfmqAvyA

112

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RC Practice - 13th July

Since some of the dead animals never washed ashore, the overall disaster was presumably  worse; perhaps 50 percent of the population died. A dolphin die-off of this character and  magnitude had never before been observed; furthermore, the dolphins exhibited a startling  range of symptoms. The research team that examined the die-off noted the presence of both  skin lesions and internal lesions in the liver, lung, pancreas and heart, which suggested a  massive opportunistic bacterial infection of already weakened animals. Tissues from the stricken dolphins were analyzed for a variety of toxins. Brevetoxin, a toxin  produced by the blooming of the alga Ptychodiscus brevis, was present in eight out of  seventeen dolphins tested. Tests for synthetic pollutants revealed that polychlorinated  biphenyls (PCBs) were present in almost all animals tested. The research team concluded that brevetoxin poisoning was the most likely cause of the  illnesses that killed the dolphins. Although P. brevis is ordinarily not found along the Atlantic coast, an unusual bloom of this organism—such blooms are called “red tides” because of the  reddish color imparted by the blooming algae—did occur in the middle of the affected  coastline in October 1987. These researchers believe the toxin accumulated in the tissue of  fish and then was ingested by dolphins that preyed on them. The emaciated appearance of  many dolphins indicated that they were metabolizing their blubber reserves, thereby reducing  their buoyancy and insulation (and adding to overall stress) as well as releasing stores of  previously accumulated synthetic pollutants, such as PCBs, which further exacerbated their  condition. The combined impact made the dolphins vulnerable to opportunistic bacterial  infection, the ultimate cause of death. For several reasons, however, this explanation is not entirely plausible. First, bottlenose  dolphins and P. brevis red tides are both common in the Gulf of Mexico, yet no dolphin die?off of a similar magnitude has been noted there. Second, dolphins began dying in June,  hundreds of miles north of and some months earlier than the October red tide bloom. Finally,  the specific effects of brevetoxin on dolphins are unknown, whereas PCB poisoning is known  to impair functioning of the immune system and liver and to cause skin lesions; all of these  problems are observed in the diseased animals. An alternative hypothesis, which accounts for  these facts, is that a sudden influx of pollutants, perhaps from offshore dumping, triggered a  cascade of disorders in animals whose systems were already heavily laden with pollutants.  Although brevetoxin may have been a contributing factor, the event that actually precipitated  the die-off was a sharp increase in the dolphins’ exposure to synthetic pollutants. 

1. According to the author, which of the following correctly describes the chain of events that  led to the death of dolphins?

(A) The abnormal growth of alga P. brevis resulted in toxin accumulation in fish, dolphins  fed on this fish, their immunity got compromised, a surge in pollutant PCB worsened their  system and bacterial infection became the final nail in their coffin. (B) An unusual surge in pollutant PCB stressed dolphins’ immune responses and led to high  levels of toxins, the growth of alga P.brevis exacerbated the immune system and more PCB  dumped offshore led to organ failure and death 

(C) Bacterial infection compromised dolphins’ immunity, offshore dumping of PCB pollutant led to poisoning, and the toxin accumulation due to excessive growth of P.brevis led to organ  failure and death 

(D) An unusual surge in PCB pollutants triggered stressful immune responses, the excessive  growth of P.brevis led to accumulation of toxins, further worsening their condition, and this  compromised immune system probably gave up to a bacterial infection

2. The passage is primarily concerned with  

(A) assessing the effects of a devastating bacterial infection in Atlantic coast bottlenose  dolphins 

(B) pointing out the weaknesses in the research methodology used to explore the dolphin die-off 

(C) discussing relative effects of various marine pollutants in dolphin die-off in Atlantic coast 

(D) advancing possible alternative explanations for the massive dolphin die-off 

3. Which one of the following is most analogous to the approach taken by author of the  passage with regard to the research described in the third paragraph? 

(A) A physics teacher accepts the data from a student’s experiment but questions the  student’s conclusions. 

(B) An astronomer provides additional observations to support another astronomer’s theory. 

(C) A cook revises a traditional recipe by substituting modern ingredients for those used in  the original. 

(D) A doctor prescribes medication for a patient whose illness was misdiagnosed by another  doctor. 

4. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would most probably agree with which  one of the following statements about brevetoxin? 

(A) It may have been responsible for the dolphins’ skin lesions but could not have  contributed to the bacterial infection. 

(B) It forms more easily when both P. brevis and synthetic pollutants are present in the  environment simultaneously. 

(C) It damages liver function and immune system responses in bottlenose dolphins but may  not have triggered this particular dolphin die-off. 

(D) It is unlikely to have caused the die-off because it was not present in the dolphins’  environment when the die-off began. 

5. The explanation for the dolphin die-off given by the research team most strongly supports  which one of the following? 

(A) When a dolphin metabolizes its blubber, the PCBs released may be more dangerous to  the dolphin than they were when stored in the blubber. 

(B) When P. brevis blooms in an area where it does not usually exist, it is more toxic than it  is in its usual habitat. 

(C) Opportunistic bacterial infection is usually associated with brevetoxin poisoning in  bottlenose dolphins. 

(D) The dolphins’ emaciated state was probably a symptom of PCB poisoning rather than of  brevetoxin poisoning. 

6. It can be inferred from the passage that opportunistic infection refers to 

(A) infections induced by humans for their greedy purposes 

(B) infections caused by microbes which usually do not 

(C) infections accompanied with toxins 

(D) infections causing compromised immunity 

Answers of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/X1VYNpre7EE

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RC Practice - 15th July

Most office workers assume that the messages they send to each other via electronic mail are  as private as a telephone call or a face-to-face meeting. That assumption is wrong. Although  it is illegal in many areas for an employer to eavesdrop on private conversations or telephone  calls—even if they take place on a company-owned telephone—there are no clear rules  governing electronic mail. In fact, the question of how private electronic mail transmissions  should be has emerged as one of the more complicated legal issues of the electronic age. People’s opinions about the degree of privacy that electronic mail should have vary  depending on whose electronic mail system is being used and who is reading the messages.  Does a government office, for example, have the right to destroy electronic messages created  in the course of running the government, thereby denying public access to such documents?  Some hold that government offices should issue guidelines that allow their staff to delete  such electronic records, and defend this practice by claiming that the messages thus deleted  already exist in paper versions whose destruction is forbidden. Opponents of such practices  argue that the paper versions often omit such information as who received the messages and  when they received them, information commonly carried on electronic mail systems.  Government officials, opponents maintain, are civil servants; the public should thus have the  right to review any documents created during the conducting of government business. Questions about electronic mail privacy have also arisen in the private sector. Recently, two  employees of an automotive company were discovered to have been communicating  disparaging information about their supervisor via electronic mail. The supervisor, who had  been monitoring the communication, threatened to fire the employees. When the employees  filed a grievance complaining that their privacy had been violated, they were let go. Later,  their court case for unlawful termination was dismissed; the company’s lawyers successfully  argued that because the company owned the computer system, its supervisors had the right to  read anything created on it. In some areas, laws prohibit outside interception of electronic mail by a third party without  proper authorization such as a search warrant. However, these laws do not cover “inside”  interception such as occurred at the automotive company. In the past, courts have ruled that  interoffice communications may be considered private only if employees have a “reasonable  expectation” of privacy when they send the messages. The fact is that no absolute guarantee  of privacy exists in any computer system. The only solution may be for users to scramble  their own messages with encryption codes; unfortunately, such complex codes are likely to  undermine the principal virtue of electronic mail: its convenience. 

1. Which one of the following statements most accurately summarizes the main point of the  passage? 

(A) Until the legal questions surrounding the privacy of electronic mail in both the public and  private sectors have been resolved, office workers will need to scramble their electronic mail  messages with encryption codes. 

(B) The legal questions surrounding the privacy of electronic mail in the work place can best  be resolved by treating such communications as if they were as private as telephone  conversations or face-to-face meetings. 

(C) Any attempt to resolve the legal questions surrounding the privacy of electronic mail in  the workplace must take into account the essential difference between public-sector and  private sector business. 

(D) At present, in both the public and private sectors, there seem to be no clear general  answers to the legal questions surrounding the privacy of electronic mail in the workplace.

2. According to the passage, which one of the following best expresses the reason some  people oppose the deletion of electronic mail records at government offices? 

(A) Such deletion reveals the extent of government’s unhealthy obsession with secrecy. 

(B) Such deletion runs counter to the notion of government’s accountability to its  constituency. 

(C) Such deletion clearly violates the legal requirement that government offices keep  duplicate copies of all their transactions. 

(D) Such deletion violates the government’s own guidelines against destruction of electronic  records. 

3. Which one of the following most accurately states the organization of the passage? 

(A) A problem is introduced, followed by specific examples illustrating the problem: a  possible solution is suggested, followed by an acknowledgment of its shortcomings. 

(B) A problem is introduced, followed by explications of two possible solutions to the  problem: the first solution is preferred to the second, and reasons are given for why it is the  better alternative. 

(C) A problem is introduced, followed by analysis of the historical circumstances that helped  bring the problem about a possible solution is offered and rejected as being only a partial  remedy. 

(D) A problem is introduced, followed by enumeration of various questions that need to be  answered before a solution can be found: one possible solution is proposed and argued for. 

4. Based on the passage, the author’s attitude towards interception of electronic mail can most  accurately be described as: 

(A) outright disapproval of the practice 

(B) support for employers who engage in it 

(C) cynicism about the motives behind the practice 

(D) intellectual interest in its legal issues 

5. Given the information in the passage, which one of the following hypothetical events is  LEAST likely to occur? 

(A) A court rules that a government office’s practice of deleting its electronic mail is not in  the public’s best interests. 

(B) A court upholds the right of a government office to destroy both paper and electronic  versions of its in-house documents. 

(C) A court upholds a private-sector employer’s right to monitor messages sent between  employees over the company’s in-house electronic mail system. 

(D) A court rules in favor of a private-sector employee whose supervisor stated that in-house  electronic mail would not be monitored but later fired the employee for communicating  disparaging information via electronic mail.

6. The author’s primary purpose in writing the passage is to 

(A) demonstrate that the individual right to privacy has been eroded by advances in computer  technology

(B) compare the legal status of electronic mail in the public and private sectors (C) explain why the courts have not been able to rule definitely on the issue of the privacy of  electronic mail conversations or face-to-face meeting 

(D) illustrate the complexities of the privacy issues surrounding electronic mail in the  workplace

Answers of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/4r_YD4VAp_E

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Q: The quantity y = a + bx + cx2 increases by 93% when x increases from 10 to 15 and increases by 64 % when x increases from 15 to 20. Find a/(b + c).