Official verbal ability thread for CAT 2014

Students should avail of good opportunity.

We enjoyed at the party.

Hi folks,


Lets start an event every thursday on a Verbal topic and spend an hour or two on it. This will help both beginners and those with sound knowledge where the former will learn and the latter will get his concepts revised.
This week we will start with Para Completion.
We will either solve the questions in the same thread or will create a new thread for this.
Thanks.

Each question consists of four sentences on a topic. These sentences when read together constitute a paragraph. Some sentences are grammatically incorrect or inappropriate. Select the option that indicates the grammatically incorrect and inappropriate sentence(s).

A. Tomatoes eaten raw might not be so healthy, says a new study, because our digestive tract can only process a tiny amount of lycopene, an antioxidant found in tomatoes.
B. Antioxidants are dietary substances found in beta carotene, vitamins C and E and selenium.
C. They prevent damage to the cells in our body or reverse damage after it has been done.
D. The study found that although around 75 percent of the total antioxidants were released, this included only four percent of the lycopene found on the raw tomato.


answer options:


1. a and c

2. b and c

3. d

4. none of these

@Sherjil

We enjoyed at the party.



1) Correct



2) Incorrect Skip



Ä‚—

I guess " we enjoyed the party" would be sufficient.

Uncountable nouns cannot be used with 'a/an' :

I am going to give you a little/a few advice . ( I know it should be a piece of advice , but this is the question , is it wrong ? )

Your answers with explanations pls.

The intricate structure of the compound insect eye having hundreds of miniature eyes called XXX ,

helps explain why scientists have assumed that it evolved independently of the vertebrate eye .

This is a correct sentence though I felt -
Doubt : Why not helps to explain ?
@scrabbler

Carnivorous mammals can endure what would otherwise be lethal levels of body heat because they have a heat exchange n/w which/that keeps the brain working.

How to we decide on which/that ?
@scrabbler , if u cd help.😃

Trade protectionism, disguised as concern for the climate, is raising its head. Citing competitiveness concerns, powerful industrialized countries are holding out threats of a levy on imports of energy-intensive products from developing countries that refuse to accept their demands. The actual source of protectionist sentiment in the OECD countries is, of course, their current lackluster economic performance, combined with the challenges posed by he rapid economic rise of China and India €“ in that order


Sentence Correction :
Unlike the conviction held by many of her colleagues that genes were relatively simple and static , Barbara McClintock adhered to her own more complicated ideas about how genes might operate , and in 1983 , at the age of 81 , was awarded a Nobel Prize for her discovery that the genes in corn are capable of moving from one chromosomal site to another.
a. correct
b. Although many of her colleagues were of the conviction of genes being
c. Contrary to many of her colleagues being convinced that genes were
d. Even though many of her colleagues were convinced that genes were
e. Even with many of her colleagues convinced of genes being

@scrabbler , if you cd help.
Sentence Correction :

In virtually all types of tissue in every animal species , dioxin induces the production of enzymes that are the organism's trying to metabolize , or render harmless , the chemical that is irritating it.

a. Correct
b. trying that it metabolize,or render harmless,the chemical irritant.
c. attempt to try to metabolize , or render harmless,such a chemical irritant
d. attempt to try and metabolize , or render harmless , the chemical irritating it
e . attempt to metabolize , or render harmless,the chemical irritant.

@scrabbler , pls.

RC0001 €‹

The original Hellenistic community was idealized, the Greeks' own golden dream ‚Ź €?a community never achieved but only imagined by the Macedonian Alexander, who was possessed of the true faith of all converts to a larger vision. The evolving system of city-states had produced not only unity with a healthy diversity but also narrow rivalries. No Hellenic empire arose, only scores of squabbling cities pursuing bitter feuds born of ancient wrongs and existing ambitions. It was civil strife made possible by isolation from the great armies and ambitions of Asia. Greek history could arguably begin in July of 776 B.C., the First Olympiad, and end with Theodosus's ban on the games in 393 A.D. Before this there had been a long era of two tribes, the Dorians and Ionians, scarcely distinguishable to the alien eye, but distinctly separate in their own eyes until 776. After Theodosus\\

Question for RC0001

3. The statement: ?The Olympic spirit was not one of communal bliss but bitter lasting competition institutionalized in games? indicates that the author believes that:

10 RCs a day will keep your fear from VA section especially RC away...!!!

Mind it

puyzz can u plzz suggest me some good books or online material tat could help me in improving my grammer part for VA......


Data of educational psychology are obtained through various methods. These methods range in reliability from extremely low to very high. In addition to the questionable validity of the information obtained by research, there are certain risks of inference involved when the results of laboratory investigations are extrapolated to classroom applications. Every classroom is unique in many ways and there are certain risks in generalizing from the laboratory to the classroom as well as from one type of classroom to another. Educational psychologists and educators in the field would do a service to the profession if they would cross-validate laboratory studies in the classroom and pool the results from such studies in several schools to determine the generality of their findings. Conventional textbooks are quite unsatisfactory for the student who wishes to critically evaluate the reliability of the methods used in obtaining the information presented. The book, which presents enough of the methodology of the studies from which all of the data presented are derived, would be able to cover a very limited area of subject matter and a small number of studies. It is necessary, therefore, for textbooks to become authoritarian in tenor and subject-matter oriented if they are to be useful to the student who is largely a consumer of research data. Data presented in textbook fashion must be accepted largely on faith €” faith in the veracity of the presentations and in the reliability of the research methods used. The student who is critical will want to go back to the original studies to check on the original methods and data on issues which are crucial for him. There are books of readings available in which selected studies are presented in their complete forms. These constitute useful supplements to the subject-matter oriented textbook. A textbook should be perceived by the student as a presentation of the best available information to date, organized and interpreted within a limited frame of reference.

What is the underlying idea of the third paragraph?

A. It is not enough for a textbook to contain data derived from various sources if students do not find. them useful.

B. Textbooks can never be exhaustive as they will always be constrained by limited scope of studies and researches made.

C. Unquestionable reliability of data made available is more important than the quantum of data.

D. textbook must be unblemished in character, authoritative in tenor and subject-matter oriented.

E. Conventional textbooks are not useful to students as they contain inputs that may be little more than sum and substance

What is the underlying idea of the whole passage?

A. Quality textbook present authentic and reliable data; so the research methods employed must be unimpeachable.

B. Data obtained through laboratory studies have to be cross-validated with results obtained from different sources.

C. It is the faith in the materials presented and the method used to present them that determine the acceptability of a textbook.

D. Conventional textbooks do not always provide a discerning student with study materials in complete form with well organized and authentic data.

E. Faith is central to a textbook; this element alone serves the purpose of the student community.

With Charles Darwin's popularization of the concept of evolution, man became interested in his biological origins and affiliations. This interest was centered on man's phylogenetic origins. Starting with the work on heredity of Gregor Mendel in the 1860s and the recognition of its significance in 1900, interest shifted to the problem of man's ontogenetic origins. Mendel's simple 'laws of heredity' came to be widely known and were uncritically assumed to apply to all human characteristics. Most physical characteristics, intelligence, and many aspects of personality were thought to operate as simple Mendelian unit characters in their transmission from parent to child. This belief stimulated an interest to eugenic movements that proposed to bring about race betterment through sterilization of the unfit and encouragement of marriage among the superior members of society. Many groups of people organized to promote such programmes. Feeble-mindedness, poverty, crime, and immorality were thought to be largely matters of poor heredity. Several studies of family lines were published that seemed to give considerable support to this general concept. From 1900 to about 1920 there was an overemphasis on the role of heredity in producing these conditions. The fixity and certainty of hereditary determination were grossly overestimated, and the environmental contribution to intelligence, personality, morality, and crime was either ignored or underestimated. The one fundamental fact of logic €” that correlation does not prove causation €” was forgotten. Because certain traits follow family lines, it does not follow that they are necessarily inherited. There is a 'social heredity' involved in the transmission of many things from generation to generation, and it is easy to confuse its effects with those of biology heredity. Starting in the 1920s and '30s there set in a reaction against the uncritical application of the simple Mendelian concepts to all human characteristics and the resulting disregard of the importance of environmental factors. The extreme hereditarians were accused of being mechanistic in their frame of reference, deterministic in their philosophy, and unscientific in their methods.Behavior trends, intellectual level, special talents, and temperament are not inherited as such, but heredity is certainly a factor in determining all of them. Genes affect behavior indirectly through their influence on the structural development of the individual. Genes affect structural conditions which, in turn, influence function. Such complex things as feeble-mindedness, musical talent, mathematical aptitude, and criminality can hardly be inherited. However, the genes can be crucial factors in determining the development of the nervous system, the sensitivity of the ear, the discriminating ability of the eye, the length, diameter, and nature of the vocal cords, and as such things as the size and shape of the hands.

1. What is the underlying idea of the third paragraph?

A. The Mendelian concept had turned the whole issue of heredity topsy-turvy in 1920s and 1930s.

B. The Mendelian concept did not have much to do with the kind of reactions that one noticed in 1920s and 1930s.

C. It was not the Mendelian concept but its uncritical application that had set in motion a mechanistic, deterministic and unscientific approach.

D. Hereditarians were accused of being extreme in their approach to the concept of heredity.

E. Unscientific methods were employed to apply the simple Mendelian concept of heredity.

2. What is the underlying idea of the fourth paragraph?

A. While some complex traits may not be inherited, genes may help in developing the nervous system that shapes up our life.

B. Genes affect behavioral pattern of an individual and directly influence his intellectual growth.

C. Heredity plays an important role in determining the quality of an individual in as much as it shapes his being and his behavior.

D. Heredity plays a crucial but undeterministic role in determining our behavior trends and intellectual levels.

E. Genes shape not only our approach to life; it also shapes the length and size of our hands and other limbs.

3.What is the underlying idea of the whole passage?

To show the importance of heredity in our life.

To strike a balance between 'social' & 'biology' heredity.

To clear the mist surrounding Darwin's theory.

To understand the complexity of genes.

To correctly evaluate the 'laws of heredity'.

Para completion :

Culturally, Mexico belongs to Latin America. It shares language, a tradition and a religion with the 20 countries that make up this area of the world. But Mexico is used to looking north. Very few Mexicans ever travel to the rest of Latin America. In contrast, millions cross the border with the U.S. every year. The proximity has created an often-uncomfortable love-hate relationship between Mexico and the United Stales. Mexican nationalism has been built on a rejection of the U.S. Mexican children are taught in school that the U.S. is the ever present villain in their country's history. They are reminded that Americans, unfairly and violently, took half of the national territory in the mid 19th century. Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona and a portion of Utah would today be a part of Mexico if it were not for the independence of Texas in 1835 and the U.S. - Mexican war of the 1847-1848. Many political activists in Mexico still see the U.S. as the single most important force dragging the country down and preventing its full development.

a. Even the staunchest Mexican nationalists, however, are inevitably drawn to the U.S.

b. The proximity, of course, has had its rewards.

c. But at the same time it has been able to maintain close cultural Iinks with the rest of Latin America

d. There has lately been a remarkable shift in the Mexican nationalism and the country has drawn closer to the U.S.

e. Mexico and the U.S, being neighbours are destined to be at daggers drawn.

Thus Simon tells us of a dream in which he saw some gigantic figures seated at table and clearly heard the frightful snapping noise made by their jaws coming together as they chewed. When he awoke he heard the beat of a horse's hooves galloping past his window. The noise made by the horse's hooves may have suggested ideas from a group of memories connected with Gu!liver's Travels €”the Giants of Brobdingnag and the virtuous Houyhnhnms €”if I may venture on an interpretation without the dreamer's assistance. Is it not probable, then, that the choice of such an unusual group of memories as these were facilitated by

1.motives other than the objective stimulus alone

2. the horse's hooves alone

3. the ghost stories that Simon had read in his childhood

4. Simon's notions of the extra-terrestrials

5. the grotesque representation of the Giants of Brobdingnag

paracomp:

You see him every day, sometimes on the street, sometimes in the ration shop, an ageless and timeless entity in the ever–changing world around him. And yet he is elusive. The man–in–the–street is no flesh–and–bone creature but a mere statistic, an apocryphal figure who is invoked by politicians and economists alike but with whom they are most comfortable as long as he remains abstract.

a. Public welfare for them is exclusively the welfare of this ever elusive man.

b. It is precisely because he is abstract that they are so comfortable with him.

c. Let us go beyond abstraction and get to the concrete reality of this common man.

c. He is their Man Friday.

d. But how can you find him on the street if he is so elusive?