Guys any specific ways or rules on how to do FIJ's ?
As rules used for FIJ's in 1994 was different from CAT 2006...
Guys any specific ways or rules on how to do FIJ's ?
As rules used for FIJ's in 1994 was different from CAT 2006...
RC:
The passage given below is followed by a set of questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question. I recently came across a flood of sensational headlines concerning language use in China. All of them claim that around 400 million (about 30%) Chinese people cannot speak the national language, Mandarin. Very often, such stories suggest that increased attention to English is the major cause of the deterioration of Chinese language skills. Indeed, this anxious refrain recurs frequently enough that many wonder whether there may truly be a language crisis in China and whether the strong emphasis on English in education, commerce and communication really is the cause. Though the charge carries a considerable amount of political weight, that doesn't make it any more linguistically true.
The main problem with all such sweeping assertions about how many people do or do not speak Mandarin is that Mandarin is not a monolithic entity. I would consider it a branch of the Sinitic language family, with many more or less mutually unintelligible varieties. For example, my wife, Li-ching Chang, is a superb teacher of the standard variety of Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin (MSM). She grew up in Chengdu city, China, and as a child, spoke Mandarin in the style of that city (lots of tonal and lexical differences from MSM).
Years later, when Li-ching and I went back to visit her old haunts in Chengdu, she had no problem communicating so long as she was in the city; she would simply shift gears from MSM to Chengdu-style Mandarin, with which she was very comfortable, having kept up contacts with many people from the city even after she had moved to America. Once we went outside Chengdu, however, Li-ching's ability to understand speech diminished rapidly. When we went to villages around Leshan (140 miles away) and Emeishan (89 miles away), she couldn't understand a word of what the locals said. In fact, Li-ching thought that they must be minority language speakers like the Yi and was astonished to find out that they were Mandarin speakers.
The late Jerry Norman, one of the best Chinese linguists of the last 50 years, once told me privately that he thought there were at least 300 different varieties of Mandarin that were mostly mutually unintelligible, and that they were essentially different languages, not dialects. But Jerry, who did not relish controversy and confrontation, said that he would never make such a statement in public or in print. When people dare to talk about the many languages of China, they're met with hostile reactions from Chinese nationalists who view MSM as a way to foster cohesion and identity. This is the same mindset as that of patriots the world over, whether in Italy or Russia or America, who are threatened by minority languages.
In the minds of such people, there is only one Chinese language, proper MSM, and everything else is merely slang. Of course, no linguist worth his salt could possibly accept such an explanation of the linguistic landscape of China. The real threat, far greater than that of English, is the one that Modern Standard Mandarin poses to the hundreds of other varieties, call them what you will. That's a sensational headline I'd like to see more often.
What is the author's main point?
1) There is a language crisis in China due to the overemphasis on English and neglect of the varieties of Mandarin.
2) There is a language crisis in China due to Chinese nationalists' hostility towards anyone who does not accept Modern Standard Mandarin (MSM) as the only Chinese language.
3) Mandarin is not a single language, but a variety of languages, and China's overemphasis on MSM is a threat to the other varieties.
4) Mandarin is not a single language, but a variety of languages, and China's overemphasis on English is a threat to the varieties of Mandarin.
The passage given below is followed by a set of questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question. Which of the following best describes the author's wife's experience with language in China?
1) Despite being a teacher of MSM, she was unable to speak Mandarin fluently with the locals in and around Chengdu city.
2) Despite having grown up in China, and being a teacher of MSM, she was unable to understand the dialect of Mandarin spoken in and around Chengdu city.
3) Despite being fluent in MSM as well as Chengdu city-style Mandarin, she was unable to understand the locals in villages just a little distance from Chengdu.
4) Despite being fluent in MSM as well as Chengdu city-style Mandarin, she was unable to understand the speakers of minority languages such as the Yi.
The passage given below is followed by a set of questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question. In the light of the rest of the passage, the claim in the headlines mentioned in the first paragraph - i.e. that around 400 million Chinese people cannot speak Mandarin - can best be considered:
1) Deficient 2) Disingenuous 3) Exaggerated 4) Compelling
The passage given below is followed by a set of questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question. Which of the following best describes the attitude of Chinese nationalists towards MSM?
1) They consider MSM as the only correct form of Mandarin, and believe it is vital for fostering a sense of nationalism in China.
2) Though they privately agree that there are many varieties of Mandarin, they believe that only MSM can foster national cohesion and identity.
3) They sincerely believe that Chinese people should learn MSM, not English, and are hostile to the suggestion that there are many varieties of Mandarin.
4) They believe that it is important to promote MSM over minority languages for nationalistic reasons, even if other varieties of Mandarin are neglected in the process.
-IMS
RC:
The passage given below is followed by a set of questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question.
Extinction is an emotional issue for many of us, which can colour judgement and distort objectivity. There is a very real possibility that estimates of current extinction rates are inflated. Few studies are able to pinpoint how real the threat of elevated extinction rates really is, or how prolonged it will be. There is a tendency by some working in this field to cry doom when a much more muted response may be justified.
It is clear that the planet is in a period of elevated extinction rates. But are those rates increasing, decreasing or holding steady? There is a possibility that most of the consequential extinction has already occurred, and that little further reduction in the Earth's biota will accumulate over the next few centuries or millennia. Thus it may be that the estimation of losses of species through mass extinction is wildly overstated.
The following are several reasons why the current mass extinction may be less severe than many estimates predict: Most species are resilient - more resilient than previously thought. For all of the species extinctions currently thought to be under way, actual case histories of extinctions are rather few. Those species that have gone extinct, ranging from the dodo to the passenger pigeon, may be species that for any number of reasons were extremely susceptible to extinction to begin with. Extinction requires the death of every living individual of a given species. All species are the result of a long period of evolution. They do not just go away; something must eventually kill them all off, and that cause must be sufficient to end a history in most cases counted in millions of years. Conservation efforts may be more successful than previously thought. Worldwide conservation efforts have brought to light the plight of many endangered species. Virtually every country on Earth now practices some form of conservation, be it by preserving large national parks or by protecting individual species or given habitats. These efforts have occurred only in the last two to three decades on a worldwide basis. Yet they have already registered a number of remarkable successes, notably in the restoration of whale and large bird species. Bans on dangerous chemicals such as DDT have vastly aided this process. These efforts alone may be sufficient to reverse the course of the oncoming and ongoing mass extinction.
Extinction rates may have been overestimated. One of the most maddening aspects of biodiversity studies is our very poor knowledge of the most basic baseline figure, the actual number of species on Earth, and the corollary to that figure, the reduction of species numbers among various taxonomic groups and specific habitats. In very few other avenues of science are the error ranges quite so great: an order of magnitude separates the high and low figures. It may be that there are a very large number of species on Earth, and that a relatively low percentage of them have recently undergone extinction, or will do so in the near future.
The author's tone in this passage is:
1) Cautious 2) Content 3) Cheerful 4) Hopeful
Choose the best title for this passage.
1) Not Extinct Yet
2) The Slowing Wheel of Extinction
3) Extinction: Not as Bad as it Seems
4) Let's be Objective about Extinction
Which of the following can be inferred from this passage?
1) Extinction rates are more likely to be overestimated than underestimated.
2) Due to the efforts of conservationists, there are now very few birds on the endangered species list.
3) The actual number of species on Earth could be as many as ten times more than currently known.
4) Species like the dodo to the passenger pigeon are extinct because they had not been evolving for a long time.
Which are some of the possible reasons for the author ultimately concluding that the current mass extinction may be less severe than commonly projected?
i] Certain species may be extinct because they were uniquely vulnerable.
ii] The Earth's biodiversity may be greater than imagined, so the species already extinct would form a very minor proportion of the total number of species on the planet.
iii] Conservation efforts could be sufficient to counter or even reverse the current extinction estimates.
1) [i] and [ii] 2) [i] and [iii] 3) [ii] and [iii] 4) [i], [ii] and [iii]
-IMS
RC-
It is not universally realized that reasoning comprises a great deal of what philosophy is about. Many people have the idea that philosophy is essentially about ideas or theories about the nature of the world and our place in it. Philosophers do indeed advance such ideas and theories, but in most cases their power and scope stems from their having been derived through rational argument from acceptable premises. Of course, many other regions of human life also commonly involve reasoning, and it may sometimes be impossible to draw clean lines distinguishing philosophy from them. (In fact, whether or not it is possible to do so is itself a matter of heated philosophical debate.)
The natural and social sciences are, for example, fields of rational inquiry that often bump up against the borders of philosophy (especially in inquiries into the mind and brain, theoretical physics and anthropology). But theories composing these sciences are generally determined through certain formal procedures of experimentation and reflection to which philosophy has little to add. Religious thinking sometimes also enlists rationality and shares an often-disputed border with philosophy. But while religious thought is intrinsically related to the divine, sacred or transcendent - perhaps through some kind of revelation, article of faith or religious practice - philosophy, by contrast, in general is not.
Of course, the work of certain prominent figures in the Western philosophical tradition presents decidedly non-rational and even antirational dimensions (for example, that of Heraclitus, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger and Derrida). Furthermore, many include the work of Asian (Confucian, Taoist, Shinto), African, Aboriginal and Native American thinkers under the rubric of philosophy, even though they seem to make little use of argument. But, perhaps despite the intentions of its authors, even the work of nonstandard thinkers involves rationally justified claims and subtle forms of argumentation. And in many cases, reasoning remains on the scene at least as a force to be reckoned with. Philosophy, then, is not the only field of thought for which rationality is important. And not all that goes by the name of philosophy is argumentative. But it is certainly safe to say that one cannot even begin to master the expanse of philosophical thought without learning how to use the tools of reason.
Which of the following is not true about philosophy, as per this passage?
1) The line between philosophy and religious thought is not always clear.
2) Historically, Western philosophical tradition has tended to emphasize the non-rational or anti-rational aspects of philosophy.
3) The question of what is the appropriate subject matter of philosophy is a topic of philosophical debate.
4) Philosophy is not always rational, and nor is it the only area of study that uses rational thought.
This passage is most likely an extract from:
1) an article called 'The Importance of Rational Thought'.
2) a book called The Story of Philosophy.
3) a book called Tools and Methods for Philosophy.
4) an article called 'Rationality in Philosophy and Religion'.
-IMS
Mark the correct option, which puts parts of the sentence in right order .
I. But she gained courage as she went on
II. She was a little nervous about it just at first
III. And opened their eyes and mouth so very wide
IV. The two creatures got so close to her, one on each side
0 voters
Select the most appropriate word(s) from the given choice to fill in the blank(s)
During the heated discussion, the leader of the group -----------------refuted all the claims brought by his opponents. Later everybody acknowledged that he survived by most ------------luck.
0 voters
In the following sentences, the main statement is followed by four sentences each. Select a pair of sentences that relate logically to the given statement.
</p><p><strong>Ram gets a swollen nose whenever he eats hamburgers.</strong><br/>
A. Ram gets a swollen nose. <br/>
B. Ram does not eat hamburgers.<br/>
C. Ram does not get a swollen nose. <br/>
D. Ram eats hamburgers.
</p><p>I have doubt in source's OA, so not updating it. <br/></p><p>Pls explain ur answer!<br/></p>
0 voters
Distrust and mistrust are roughly the same. Both refer to (1) lack of trust, and (2) to regard without trust. But distrust is often based on experience or reliable information, while mistrust is often a general sense of unease toward someone or something. For example, you might distrust the advice of someone who has given you bad tips in the past, and you might mistrust advice from a stranger. This distinction is only a general tendency, though, and it is not always borne out in real-world usage.
Any idea about verbal ability for CAT by ajay singh? Or any reference book for this prep?
can anyone suggest a good source for VA practice. RC, PJs, PCs etc ?
Complete the paragraph
A typical example of this version of the dream is a speech made by the economist and non-resident Indian Arvind Subramanian, of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington D.C., in which he reportedly declared that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could well become the Deng Xiaoping of India. He gave a number of reasons for that expectation: Modi represents a decisive break from dynastic rule like Deng represented a break from the madness of Mao Zedong ideology (though the analogy here is not clear); Modi, like the Chinese reformist leader, is characterised by decisiveness, pragmatism and the obsession to get things done; and both Modi and Deng ostensibly have a long-term horizon for their countries.
0 voters
Word Usage #3 :
ALLUSIVE Vs ELUSIVE :
Allusive:
Characterized by indirect references.
Example :
I'm tired of his allusive speech. He should just say what he means.
Elusive:
Difficult to describe.
Example:
That haunting, elusive odor was driving him crazy.
RC:
The passage given below is followed by a set of questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question.
Harmony in music is about fitting notes together. Most people would agree that some fit well, and others less well. Conventionally, we'd call the former combinations consonant and the latter dissonant. In the most reductive formulation, consonance is good and pleasing, dissonance bad and unsettling. It all sounds perfectly clear in theory. Well, it isn't.
Many classical-music traditionalists would deny that they enjoy dissonance. The word conjures up the jarring sound-worlds of Stockhausen and Boulez, who, to these listeners, seem to delight in finding ways to combine notes that set your teeth on edge. Oh no, they'll say, give me Chopin or Beethoven any day. This merely illustrates why dissonance is one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented concepts in music. To the opponents of modernism, who rebelled against Debussy and Stravinsky and aren't through with their rebelling even now, the use of dissonance was an affront to music itself, a violation of natural laws dictating the way music should be composed. Until cognitive testing and ethnomusicology began to challenge the assumption in the later twentieth century, it was common for music theorists and composers in the West to claim that consonance was merely a matter of acoustic physics and physiology, and so would be judged the same way by anyone. Meanwhile, champions of atonalism such as Schoenberg and Boulez dismissed this notion that we have an innate aversion to dissonance, claiming instead that it was culturally learnt - and could thus presumably be unlearnt. But the question of consonance and dissonance is not a battleground between tonalism and atonalism. It's much more subtle than that. Take Chopin - that delicate soul sometimes caricatured as a composer for simpering ladies in cloistered parlours. His music is riddled with dissonance. At its most extreme, Chopin's dissonance probably deserves to be called ugly (but not therefore bad!). Or consider the most clichéd of hotel lobby pianists, whose saccharine versions of popular songs are undoubtedly laden with intervals that music theorists would have no hesitation in pronouncing dissonant.
Of course, there is not a great deal of point in telling people they should like combinations of notes that sound unpleasant to them, and that's not my intention. I simply want to explain that these likes and dislikes probably involve very little that is innate, but are rather mostly the products of learning. And it is in any case probably not the 'dissonances' themselves that are disliked, but what is being done with them: how they are being combined into music. Dissonance has become something of a fall guy, shouldering the blame for what many people perceive as the 'difficult' character of modern classical music. When listeners complain about contemporary compositions, they tend to suggest that the 'fault' lies with a perverse selection of note combinations, which they accuse the composers of having chosen purely to create a jarring effect. But it is not primarily the 'dissonant' intervals of this music that jangles nerves and frustrates the identification of musical themes; instead, a whole range of musical factors, including rhythm, melodic continuity and timbre, combine to create music that is not easy on the ears of a listener brought up on Mozart. If we can let go of the idea that certain juxtapositions of notes are intrinsically horrible, we'll find much more to enjoy in music.
Which of these best describes the author's primary point about dissonance?
1) He believes that it is understandable, though unfortunate, that people dislike dissonance.
2) He thinks that dissonance is unfairly maligned and that people accept it in music more than they realize.
According to the passage, Debussy and Stravinsky were:
1) rebels who promoted the use of dissonance in music.
2) composers who rebelled against modernist music by using dissonance.
3) modernist composers who used dissonance in their music.
4) opponents of modernist music and its use of dissonance.
Which of the following composers' music is least likely to be dissonant, as per this passage?
1) Mozart 2) Chopin 3) Boulez 4) Cannot be determined
*1 has 2 options, one of them is right! So dont worry about missing options.
-IMS
RC:
The passage given below is followed by a set of questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question.
If something is enjoyable then that is a reason for taking an interest in it, and some things are more enjoyable than others. There is also a sense in which you cannot judge something to be enjoyable at second hand: your own enjoyment is the criterion of sincerity, and when reporting on some object that others find enjoyable the best you can sincerely say is that it is apparently enjoyable, or that it seems to be enjoyable, since others find it so. However, it is not at all clear that the judgement that something is enjoyable is about the thing itself rather than the nature and character of people. Certainly we judge enjoyable things: it is right to enjoy some things, wrong to enjoy others. But these judgements focus on the state of mind of the subject, rather than a quality in the object. We can say all that we want to say about the rightness and wrongness of our enjoyments without invoking the idea that some things are really enjoyable, others only apparently so.
With beauty, matters are otherwise. Here the judgement focuses on the object judged, not the subject who judges. We distinguish true beauty from fake beauty - from kitsch, schmaltz and whimsy. We argue about beauty, and strive to educate our taste. And our judgements of beauty are often supported by critical reasoning, which focuses entirely on the character of the object. All these points seem obvious and yet they generate a paradox which threatens to undermine the entire subject of aesthetics. The judgement of taste is a genuine judgement, one that is supported by reasons. But these reasons can never amount to a deductive argument. If they could do so, then there could be second-hand opinions about beauty. There could be experts on beauty who had never experienced the things they describe, and rules for producing beauty which could be applied by someone who had no aesthetic tastes. It is true that artists often attempt to invoke beauties other than those they create: Wordsworth invokes the beauty of the Lakeland landscape; Proust the beauty of a sonata of Vinteuil; Mann the beauty of Joseph; and Homer the beauty of Helen of Troy. But the beauty that we perceive in these invocations resides in them, not in the things described. It is possible that a bust of Helen might one day be dug from the soil of Troy and authenticated as a true likeness, even though you and I are struck by the ugliness of the woman depicted, and appalled to think of a war being fought for so charmless a cause.
The paradox, then, is this. The judgement of beauty makes a claim about its object, and can be supported by reasons for its claim. But the reasons do not compel the judgement, and can be rejected without contradiction. So are they reasons or aren't they?
Which of the following comparisons between beauty and enjoyment is valid, as per this passage?
1) It is possible to have a second-hand opinion of beauty, but not of enjoyment.
2) Beauty is inherent in the object in question, while enjoyment can be extrinsic to the activity being enjoyed.
3) Both beauty and enjoyment should be judged only in terms of the person experiencing them, not the objects or activities being experienced.
4) It is possible to say whether it is right to enjoy some things, while beauty cannot be judged in such moralistic terms.
What is the paradox regarding beauty?
1) While it is possible to have an opinion about the beauty of something, it is not possible to argue for it with others who have not perceived that beauty for themselves.
2) Though it is possible to specify reasons and rules for considering something to be beautiful, these reasons and rules may be nullified by new finds.
3) Though it is possible to experience beauty at second hand, it is not feasible to generalize these experiences into rules for producing beauty.
4) While it is not possible to experience beauty at second hand, some artists nevertheless successfully invoke the beauty of objects that their audience has never seen.
This passage can best be described as:
1) deliberative 2) descriptive 3) argumentative 4) introspective
Why does the author suggest that an authentic bust of Helen of Troy may show that she was ugly?
1) To express surprise at the fact that a war was fought over such an ugly woman
2) To point out that beauty is subjective, and so what Homer considered beautiful may not seem attractive to us
3) To point out that the aesthetic appeal of an object - or the lack of it - could be immaterial to the beauty of the art it inspires
4) None of the above
-IMS
Can anyone suggest books other than word power made easy for building vocabulary? I have completed it and I want keep up this level of learning..please help!
It is not surprising that such an important social domain has attracted the attention of philosophers for thousands of years, especially as there are complex issues aplenty that have great philosophical interest. Even a cursory reading of these opening paragraphs reveals that they touch on, in nascent form, some but by no means all of the issues that have spawned vigorous debate down the ages; restated more explicitly in terms familiar to philosophers of education, the issues the discussion above flitted over were: education as transmission of knowledge versus education as the fostering of inquiry and reasoning skills that are conducive to the development of autonomy (which, roughly, is the tension between education as conservative and education as progressive, and also is closely related to differing views about human "perfectibility"- issues that historically have been raised in the debate over the aims of education); the question of what this knowledge, and what these skills, ought to be-part of the domain of philosophy of the curriculum; the questions of how learning is possible, and what is it to have learned something-two sets of issues that relate to the question of the capacities and potentialities that are present at birth, and also to the process (and stages) of human development and to what degree this process is flexible and hence can be influenced or manipulated; the tension between liberal education and vocational education, and the overlapping issue of which should be given priority-education for personal development or education for citizenship (and the issue of whether or not this is a false dichotomy); the differences (if any) between education and enculturation; the distinction between educating versus teaching versus training versus indoctrination; the relation between education and maintenance of the class structure of society, and the issue of whether different classes or cultural groups can-justly-be given educational programs that differ in content or in aims; the issue of whether the rights of children, parents, and socio-cultural or ethnic groups, conflict-and if they do, the question of whose rights should be dominant; the question as to whether or not all children have a right to state-provided education, and if so, should this education respect the beliefs and customs of all groups and how on earth would this be accomplished; and a set of complex issues about the relation between education and social reform, centering upon whether education is essentially conservative, or whether it can be an (or, the) agent of social change.
Q1.According to the passage, which of the following issues does the discussion touch upon?
(a) Education as a medium of knowledge as opposed to it being a medium for developing logical abilities.
(b) Education needs to move from being fact centric to being reason centric.
(c) Although analytic elements in philosophy of education can be located throughout intellectual history, there exists a need for education to attain a more progressive outlook.
(d) Issues that have been vehemently debated with regard to education and which find place in the minds of various philosophers.
Q2.Which of the following differences has not been mentioned in the passage?
(a) Education that provides the individual with freedom to develop as opposed to one that is focused on a career
(b) The distinction between education and enculturation
(c) The potential that one is born with as opposed to the abilities that one gathers over one's lifetime
(d) Education as a medium that refines as distinct from one that trains or instructs
Q3. It can be inferred that in the discussion on education, philosophers are also concerned with
(a) developing education as a medium of social reform.
(b) inculcating values and ethics in the imparting of education.
(c) developing education that acknowledges and pays attention to individual capacities and potential.
(d) whether education should take into account differences in culture, class and social reform
Influenced by Western individualism and they studied European women of Renaissance, the anthropologist defined a peculiar form of personhood as an innately bounded unit
0 voters
Parajumble
A.The presence of the police, in riot gear, and the already high emotions did not help the situation.
B.The police responded as if they were in an insurgency—not just in riot gear, but also with military equipment.
C.On August 10, the Ferguson police intimated— against all the available evidence and rumour—that Brown assaulted the officer and was then shot.
D.Some people smashed cars and shop windows. Frustration, already high, now reached fever pitch.
E.A candlelight vigil that evening was emotional and raw.
0 voters
Complete the paragraph.
Whether it’s a lack of talent or inclination, the film Mary Kom shows Bollywood is not yet mature enough to tell India’s stories. Its capacity is limited to nuance-less tearjerkers that just earn money for all concerned. Kumar and Qadras can’t tell you why sports is such an integral part of life and culture in so many parts of the North East, where insurgency lives shoulder to shoulder with the concrete patriotism of athletes (and soldiers) who fight for the nation in different arena. Forget the larger context,Mary Kom fails to even capture its hero properly.
0 voters
A number is said to be crazy number is the product of the digits is equal to products of the distinct primes in its prime factorization. How many crazy numbers less than 100 have less than 3 distinct prime factors in their prime factorization?
a) 4
b) 5
c) 6
d) None of these
e) 7