RC Discussion for CAT 2013

MBA CAT 2022
401
OAs RC 20/04/2013 😁😁

25. c

This area is dealt with during question 5. Except choice c, the rest of the options are mentioned verbatim in the answer as given by the interviewee. This makes option (c) correct.


26. d

This issue is dealt with in Question 6. The interviewee talks about how the image of Microsoft as a company that is evolutionary is not necessarily true in spite of the fact that 25 % of revenues come from one product that is used to find the revolutionary projects. This makes choice (d) correct.


27. b

The interviewee is responding (Question 7) to the popular allegations against Microsoft of being a company that builds on other companies' failures (fumbles). The interviewee refutes this and starts using sarcasm to elaborate on what he means – that Microsoft management meetings revolve around discussing other companies' fumbles which is absurd. He ends the question at “This is nonsense”. Pedantic is incorrect as he is not showing off his language, and humour is not used in this case, he is painting an absurd picture to let the interviewer know that this is nonsense. Sarcastic is the correct option. This makes choice (b) correct.


28. c

This issue is raised in Q 9, where the interviewer asks about the existence of the Chinese wall and mentions – “…thereby breaching the Chinese wall, the ethical boundary that's supposed to separate them?”. This makes choice (c) correct.


29. b

These issues are raised in questions 17 till 20. Its mentioned in question 20 that “This also happened to IBM and AT&T;, with the latter being broken up”. This makes choice (b) false and hence correct.


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Happy CATing 👍



402

RC-21/04/2013


Many Americans have a vague sense that their lives have been distorted by a giant cultural bias. They live in a society that prizes the development of career skills but is inarticulate when it comes to the things that matter most. The young achievers are tutored in every soccer technique and calculus problem, but when it comes to their most important decisions—whom to marry and whom to befriend, what to love and what to despise—they are on their own. Nor, for all their striving, do they understand the qualities that lead to the highest achievement. Intelligence, academic performance, and prestigious schools don't correlate well with fulfillment, or even with outstanding accomplishment. The traits that do make a difference are poorly understood, and can't be taught in a classroom, no matter what the tuition: the ability to understand and inspire people; to read situations and discern the underlying patterns; to build trusting relationships; to recognize and correct one's shortcomings; to imagine alternate futures. In short, these achievers have a sense that they are shallower than they need to be.


Help comes from the strangest places. We are living in the middle of a revolution in consciousness. Over the past few decades, geneticists, neuroscientists, psychologists, sociologists, economists, and others have made great strides in understanding the inner working of the human mind. They are giving us a better grasp of emotions, intuitions, biases, longings, predispositions, character traits, and social bonding, precisely those things about which our culture has least to say. Brain science helps fill the hole left by the atrophy of theology and philosophy.


A core finding of this work is that we are not primarily the products of our conscious thinking. The conscious mind gives us one way of making sense of our environment. But the unconscious mind gives us other, more supple ways. The cognitive revolution of the past thirty years provides a different perspective on our lives, one that emphasizes the relative importance of emotion over pure reason, social connections over individual choice, moral intuition over abstract logic, and perceptiveness over I.Q. It allows us to tell a different sort of success story, an inner story to go along with the conventional surface one.


Deciding whom to love is not an alien form of decision-making, a romantic interlude in the midst of normal life. Instead, decisions about whom to love are more intense versions of the sorts of decisions we make throughout the course of our existence, from what kind of gelato to order to what career to pursue. Living is an inherently emotional business.


40. The primary purpose of the author is to (

a) analyze the process of decision making in the human mind.

(b) argue that the process of making a decision, whether about a gelato or a career, remains the same.

(c) discuss how the advances in brain science help in understanding the human mind.

(d) critique research studies on the human mind.


41. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

(a) The author believes that success in one's career does not lead to happiness.

(b) The author believes that the achievers in America are shallower than they need to be.

(c) The author believes that American society gives undue importance to certain unimportant traits. (d) The author believes that developments in brain science help in understanding traits needed for personal fulfillment.


42. The author mentions the instance of the decision of whom to love in order to (

a) highlight the different types of decision making one comes across in life.

(b) highlight the problems one faces in making decisions.

(c) illustrate a point about the decisions we make in life.

(d) demonstrate the intensity of love



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403

RC-22/04/2013


The idea of dead scientists engaging in an experiment in eugenics is incredible enough. Yet the most striking feature in this episode is the power that is ascribed to science itself. While spiritualism evolved into a popular religion, complete with a heavenly “Summerland” where the dead lived free from care and sorrow, the intellectual elite of psychical researchers thought of their quest as a rigorously scientific inquiry. But if these Victorian seekers turned to science, it was to look for an exit from the world that science had revealed. Darwinism had disclosed a purposeless universe without human meaning; but purpose and meaning could be restored, if only science could show that the human mind carried on evolving after the death of the body. All of these seekers had abandoned any belief in traditional religion. Still, the human need for a meaning in life that religion once satisfied could not be denied, and fuelled the faith that scientific investigation would show that the human story continues after death. In effect, science was used against science, and became a channel for belief in magic.

Much of what the psychical researchers viewed as science we would now call pseudo-science. But the boundaries of scientific knowledge are smudged and shifting, and seem clear only in hindsight. There is no pristine science untouched by the vagaries of faith. The psychical researchers used science not only to deal with private anguish but also to bolster their weakening belief in progress. Especially after the catastrophe of the First World War, the gradual improvement that most people expected would continue indefinitely appeared to be faltering. If the scripts were to be believed, however, there was no cause for anxiety or despair. The world might be sliding into anarchy, but progress continued on the other side. Many of the psychical researchers believed they were doing no more than show that evolution continues in a post-mortem world. Like many others, then and now, they confused two wholly different things. Progress assumes some goal or direction. But evolution has neither of these attributes, and if natural selection continued in another world it would feature the same random death and wasted lives we find here below


Darwinism is impossible to reconcile with the notion that humans have any special exemption from mortality. In Darwin's scheme of things species are not fixed or everlasting. How then could only humans go on to a life beyond the grave? Surely, in terms of the prospect of immortality, all sentient beings stand or fall together. Then again, how could anyone imagine all the legions of the dead – not only the human generations that have come and gone but the countless animal species that are now extinct – living on in the ether, forever?


Science could not give these seekers what they were looking for. Yet at the same time that sections of the English elite were looking for a scientific version of immortality, a similar quest was under way in Russia among the “God-builders” – a section of the Bolshevik intelligentsia that believed science could someday, perhaps quite soon, be used to defeat death.



37. How was “science used against science” according to the author?

(a) People sought science to seek an exit from the world created by science.

(b) Science was used to spread the belief of life after death or eternal life.

(c) Science was used to destroy the very essence of science.

(d) Scientists used the scientific techniques to spread unscientific ideas.

38. What is the confusion of past and present day psychical researchers?

(a) They confuse progress with immortality.

(b) They confuse evolution with progress.

(c) They think progress in evolution leads to development.

(d) They confuse evolution with progress in life in another world.


39. Which of the following is the most appropriate title for the passage?

(a) Science and immortality

(b) The limits of science (

c) Attempts to deny man's mortality (

d) Incredible science


404


RC-21/04/2013

@THE_SOUTHPAW


58-4

59-4

60-4


405

RC-23/04/2013


On the day after Christmas, 2004, as everyone knows, a major earthquake and tsunami devastated coastal regions around the Indian Ocean, killing as many as 300,000 people outright and dooming countless others to misery, heartbreak, and early death. The charitable contributions that then poured forth on an unprecedented scale expressed something more than empathy and generosity. They also bore an aspect of self-therapy—of an attempt, however symbolic, to mitigate the calamity's impersonal randomness and thus to draw a curtain of decorum over a scene that appeared to proclaim too baldly, “This world wasn't made for us.”


On that earlier occasion, mainstream Catholic and Protestant faith received a lesser blow than did Enlightenment “natural theology,” which, presuming the Creator to have had our best interests at heart when he instituted nature's laws and then retired, made no allowance for either Satanic influence or divine payback for wickedness.


Israel's Sephardic chief rabbi, proclaimed, “this is an expression of God's great ire with the world” (Wieseltier 2005). But two and a half centuries of increasing scientific awareness had made for a significant difference in lay attitudes. Now the rabbi's callous words—Leon Wieseltier rightly called them “a justification of the murder of children”—met with widespread revulsion.


Theodicy, in this altered climate of opinion, would have to take a subtler tack. Just such an adjustment was made with considerable suavity by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, in a Sunday Telegraph article of January 2, 2005:


The question: “How can you believe in a God who permits suffering on this scale?” is . . . very much around at the moment, and it would be surprising if it weren't—indeed, it would be wrong if it weren't. The traditional answers will get us only so far. God, we are told, is not a puppet-master in regard either to human actions or to the processes of the world. If we are to exist in an environment where we can live lives of productive work and consistent understanding—human lives as we know them—the world has to have a regular order and pattern of its own. Effects follow causes in a way that we can chart, and so can make some attempt at coping with. So there is something odd about expecting that God will constantly step in if things are getting dangerous.


On a careful reading, William's essay appears in a truer light as a traditional exercise in Christian damage control. “Doubt God's existence”? Hardly. It sufficed for Williams that “we are told” about the Lord's plan to allow the world “a pattern of its own”—one that, if it occasionally puts us in harm's way, does so only because the fashioning of a law-abiding cosmos struck the Almighty as the best means for us humans to achieve “productive work and consistent understanding.”


William says “Although many harsh experiences “seem to point to a completely arbitrary world,” convictions about divine mercy will remain in place, because those convictions “have imposed themselves on the shape of a life and the habits of a heart”.


When the Archbishop of Canterbury mentions “effects [that] follow causes in a way that we can chart,” he writes as an heir, however grudging, of the scientific revolution. But when he implies that some prayers stand a good chance of being answered, empiricism has given way to lore supported only by traditional authority. Some people would rather not risk the loss of treasured beliefs




Q.1 How do the charitable contributions qualify as self therapy?

a) They help victims believe that there are others like them

b)They make the donors feel involved in the misery of the victims

c)They allow people to distract themselves from thoughts of pity and fear

d)The gratitude of the victim makes the donors feel better

e)The contributions put the donors in high esteem by qualifying them as 'Messengers of God'


Q.2 Leon Wieseltier's comment about the rabbi's words being callous reveals

a)Wieseltier's change of heart brought about by his growing rational beliefs

b)The popular conception about natural calamities having become more scientific

c)The demand by the Church to explain issues with the help of scientific constructs

d)The beliefs of Wieseltier's which changed after his personal experience with the Tsunami

e)None of the above


Q.3 According to Williams, the reason for people's continuing belief in god's mercy is

a)It has become a habit

b)It is visible everywhere

c)More people are connecting with each other through this

d)It helps people get through life

e)It helps people overcome their 'sins'


Q.4 What is the author's opinion about the Archbishop of Canterbury as revealed in the last paragraph?

a)He is increasingly adopting a scientific position and therefore has attracted criticism from the church

b)He has begun to acknowledge the scientific nature of calamities because of recently gained scientific knowledge

c)He has started an alternate Christian movement which is based on scientific explanations

d)He exhibits a scientific attitude at times, but he still continues to foster the belief in divine retribution

e)He believes in the coexistence of superstitions and pragmaticism.

Q.5 A suitable title to the above passage is

a)Does God exist ?

b)Reconciling Suffering and God.

c)The Tsunami.

d)Theodicy- a remedy for the Tsunami

e)God has quit the world.


406

It is not easy to be an Arab these days. If you are old, the place where you live is likely to have changed so much that little seems friendly and familiar. If you are young, years of rote learning in dreary state schools did not prepare you well for this new world. In your own country you have few rights. Travel abroad and they take you for a terrorist. Even your leaders don't count for much in the wider world. Some are big on money, others on bombast, but few are inspiring or visionary.

These are gross generalisations, of course. Huge differences persist among 300m-odd Arabic speakers and 22 countries of the Arab League. With oil prices touching record highs, some Arab economies are booming. The gulf between a Darfuri refugee and a Porsche-driving financier in Dubai is as great as between any two people on earth. Yet to travel through the Arab world right now is to experience a peculiar sameness of spirit. Particularly among people under 30, who make up the vast majority of Arabs, the mood is one of disgruntlement and doubt.

Factors that contribute to the gloom include the discombobulating impact of one of the world's fastest population growth rates, failing public-education systems and the resilience of social traditions often ill-suited to the urban lifestyle that is now the Arab norm. But it is politics above all that shapes this generation's discontent.

In the world at large, things have not looked good for the Arabs for a long time. The generation that emerged after the second world war came to believe in the inevitability of an Arab renaissance after centuries of domination by Ottoman Turks and European imperialists. Within this scheme of Arab progress, the problem of Palestine stuck out like a troublesome nail. Defeat in the 1967 war with Israel shattered many dreams. Yet even after Israel's victory Palestine remained a touchstone for Arabs everywhere. Sooner or later, it was felt, justice would be done.

That confidence has taken a beating of late. Few Arabs expect the peace initiative George Bush launched in Annapolis last November to achieve anything. And the schism between Hamas and Fatah has shaken underlying assumptions. If the Palestinians cannot unite in their own cause, why should other Arabs help them? And which side to support? For fellow Arabs, as for Palestinians themselves, the clash between a heart that cries “resist” and a head that counsels compromise has seldom been more perplexing.

As in Palestine, so in Iraq. In 2003 America's invasion produced all but universal Arab outrage. From afar, Iraqi “resistance” looked both natural and noble. But as Iraq has grown messier, the rights and wrongs have grown harder for Arabs to disentangle. There are few heroes in a cast that includes mass killers from al-Qaeda, brutal Shia militias, criminal gangs, Kurdish separatists and corrupt politicians as well as the American occupiers.

Elsewhere in the region, it has become harder for thoughtful Arabs to blame the government-inspired slaughter in the Darfur region of Sudan or the stalemate between Lebanon's religious sects on a nefarious American foreign policy. Many Arabs still see Mr Bush's “war on terrorism” as a crusade against Islam. But many also note that al-Qaeda-style jihadism has killed more Muslims, from Morocco to Saudi Arabia to the squalid Palestinian refugee camps of Lebanon, than “infidels”.

Q.1

Which of the following statements is definitely false, as per the passage?

a) Higher oil prices have led to boom in a few Arab economies.

b) There are both rich and poor Arabs in the Arab world.

c) An Arab is assumed as terrorist in the abroad countries

d) The issue of Palestine is a troublesome problem.

e) Arabs have many inspiring and motivating heroes to look up to.

Q.2

Which of the following would explain the type of the given passage?

a) Lamenting a lack of educational system.

b) The political turmoil in the Arab world.

c) An analysis of the reason of a gloomy Arab.

d) The social barriers of Arab people.

e) All of these.

Q.3

Which of the following is true of the passage?

a) American policies cannot be blamed entirely for the mass killings in the Arab world.

b)According to the passage, the Arabs have not progressed.

c)All Arab nations are rich because of their oil reserves.

d) Most Arab people are above the age of thirty.

e)It is a witty passage.

Q.4

Why does the author speak about “the gulf between a Darfuri refugee and a Porsche-driving financier in Dubai.”

a) To portray the differences in the Arab world.

b)To portray the various socio-economic and educational status in Arabs.

c)To contrast the differences and point to a similar confusion.

d)Both (a) and (b).

e)To contrast between the rich and the poor.

Q.5

“That confidence has taken a beating of late.” What does this statement convey about the Arabs?

a)The Arabs are no longer confident.

b)The Arabs were never confident.

c)The Arabs think the situation will improve.

d)The Arabs believed that things will become better but they have not.

e)For the Arabs things have been worse and have remained bad since the very beginning

407

RC-24/04/2013


TWO decades before he won the Nobel prize for economics in 1991, Ronald Coase wrote an essay decrying the poor state of research in industrial organization, the discipline in which he established his reputation. The field, he complained, was devoted to the study of monopoly and antitrust policy. That, he said, made for bad scholarship: an economist faced with a business practice that he cannot fathom, according to Mr Coase, “looks for a monopoly explanation”.


A lot has changed in the 37 years since that lament. The broader research effort for which Mr Coase called has fostered a richer understanding of how firms respond to customers and rivals. Monopoly explanations now compete with theories that see the same behaviour as helpful to consumers. That has made it harder to sort malign from benign business practices. The recent antitrust finding against Intel, a maker of computer chips, is a case in point. After a long investigation, ending in a bulky 524-page verdict, the European Union in May fined Intel €1.06 billion ($1.44 billion) for illegally using its muscle to price AMD, a rival chipmaker, out of the market. Intel rejects the charge of predatory pricing and plans a court appeal. Its lawyers have a block of theory on which to build a defence.


Allegations of predatory pricing have a long history. The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, the foundation of America's competition policy, was partly a response to complaints by small firms that larger rivals wanted to drive them out of business. Trustbusters need to be wary of such claims. Low prices are one of the fruits of competition: penalising business giants for price cuts would be perverse. But in rare circumstances, a big firm with cash in reserve may cut prices below costs in order to starve smaller rivals of revenue. The profits sacrificed in the short term can be recouped by higher prices once competitors are out of the way.


Establishing that a firm is guilty of predation is difficult. If rivals stumble or fail, that may be down to their own inefficiency or poor products, and not because they were preyed upon. Proving that a firm is pricing below its costs is tricky in practice. Even where a reliable price-cost or profit-sacrifice test is feasible, failing it need not imply sinister intent. There are often pro-competitive reasons to forgo short-term profits. Firms with a new product, or a new version of an existing one, may wish to pick a lossmaking price to defray the cost to consumers of switching, or because they expect their own costs to fall as they perfect the production process (video-game consoles are a classic example). Losses would then be a licit investment in future profits.


Q.1

It can be inferred that

a)The author is criticizing Ronald for his lament which has in fact made it difficult to sort malign from benign business practices.

b)The author considers Ronald's lament unwarranted since a lot has changed in the years after that. c)The broader research effort advocated by Mr. Coase has only led to a lot of confusion in understanding the behaviour of firms.

d)None of these.

e)Both B and C


Q.2

The author in the passage is primarily concerned with

a)Changes in the field of Industrial Organization since Ronald Coase's essay.

b)Monopolistic Competition

c)The difficulties in distinguishing between 'malign' and 'benign' business practices.

d)The benefits and curses of competition.

e)None of these


Q.3

Establishing that a firm is guilty of predation is difficult because of all the following reasons except

a)Rivals may not stumble or fail because of their inefficiencies even if they are preyed upon. b)Failing a price –cost test does not necessarily mean that a firm sought to engage in predatory pricing.

c)Firms may be perfecting the production process of a new product which would make costs fall in the long run.

d)Firms may want to decrease price of a new version of an existing product so as to compensate costs to consumers of switching. e)None of these 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍


408

Christianity suggests that the universe is a theatre of change and imperfection, and God is perfect and unchanging. Apologists, who reconcile Christianity with Greek Philosophy advocate that universe is somewhat different from pure matter. Thus God according to them also is eternal and unchanging he is the primordial cause of everything in the universe. Ideas of Plato and forms of Aristotle became god for them.


St. Augustine, one of the greatest thinkers among the early Christian Philosophers worked most on the theory of apologists. According to him, God created matter out of nothing and then created everything in the universe. Indeed god created time and space also. This principle is in congruence with the Greek Philosophy, that the universe is the result of union of matter and form.


Christian thinkers furthered the Greek philosophy and they attempted to account for the existence of matter. The Christians put the ideas or forms in God's mind and went on to say that God created matter out of nothing. After he had created matter, he had something upon which to impress ideas for forms.


These Christian philosophers taught that the ideas for forms being in the mind of the god, were divine. Therefore, in so far as things are ideas or forms impressed on matter, they seek God and try to return to him. But matter holds them back. Matter which God has created is the principle, which makes it necessary for things to struggle in their attempt to become divine.

Q.1 The relationship between the Greek Philosophy and the Apologists can be described as of

a)Altruism

b)Compatibility

c)Tolerance

d)Estrangement

e)Conformism

Q.2 According to some Christian philosophers though all forms are created by God

a)Matter present in them impedes their attempts to return to their creator.

b)They still have to struggle to prove their divinity.

c)All may not qualify to be called divine.

d)God created matter out of everything.

e)God is the allower of freedom. He is a lawgiver, but he is not a tyrant

Q.3 Which of the following is part of St. Augustine's theory?

i. All creations of God will follow his laws.

ii. God created matter out of nothing.

iii.God impressed forms upon matter to create everything in the universe.

iv. There is nothing that can be constant in this universe even time, space and matter.

a)(i) and (ii)

b)(ii) and (iv)

c)(ii), (iii) and (iv)

d)only (ii)

e)None of the above.

Q.4 Which of the following can be validated true from the passage?

a)Greek philosophers might not have attempted to account for matter while explaining the creation of universe.

b)The universe is the manifestation of interplay between change and imperfection.

c)God is eternal, unchanging and the creator of everything.

d)Both B and C

e)None of the above

Q.5

Which of the following can be a valid conclusion as per passage?

a)God is eternal, unchanging.

b)God created matter and philosophers.

c)God is creator of all forms and ideas.

d)The pattern of the world is himself.

e)God has created everything.

409

Hi everyone, have some RC's of different difficulty level, will start them from today. OA will be posted with explanation within 24 hours for the respective RC. ATB everyone 👍
Will start from easy and eventually will pick up.

410

RC- 1

Once surrounded and protected by vast wilderness, many of the national parks are adversely affected by activities outside their boundaries. The National Park Organic Act established the national park system and empowered the Secretary of the Interior to manage activities within the parks. Conditions outside park boundaries are not subject to regulation by the Park Service unless they involve the direct use of park resources.

Several approaches to protecting the national parks from external degradation have been proposed, such as one focusing on enacting federal legislation granting the National Park Service broader powers over lands adjacent to the national parks. Legislation addressing external threats to the national parks twice passed the House of Representatives but died without action in the Senate. Also brought to the table as a possible remedy is giving the states bordering the parks a significant and meaningful role in developing federal park management policy.

Because the livelihood of many citizens is linked to the management of national parks, local politicians often encourage state involvement in federal planning. But, state legislatures have not always addressed the fundamental policy issues of whether states should protect park wildlife.

Timber harvesting, ranching and energy exploration compete with wildlife within the local ecosystem. Priorities among different land uses are not generally established by current legislation. Additionally, often no mechanism exists to coordinate planning by the state environmental regulatory agencies. These factors limit the impact of legislation aimed at protecting park wildlife and the larger park ecosystem.

Even if these deficiencies can be overcome, state participation must be consistent with existing federal legislation. States lack jurisdiction within national parks themselves, and therefore state solutions cannot reach activities inside the parks, thus limiting state action to the land adjacent to the national parks. Under the supremacy clause, federal laws and regulations supersede state action if state law conflicts with federal legislation, if Congress precludes local regulation, or if federal regulation is so pervasive that no room remains for state control. Assuming that federal regulations leave open the possibility of state control, state participation in policy making must be harmonized with existing federal legislation.

The residents of states bordering national parks are affected by park management policies. They in turn affect the success of those policies. This interrelationship must be considered in responding to the external threats problem. Local participation is necessary in deciding how to protect park wildlife. Local interests should not, however, dictate national policy, nor should they be used as a pretext to ignore the threats to park regions.



1. What is the main purpose of the author in writing the passage?
A. argue that rampant timber harvesting is degrading national parks.
B. describe a plan of action to resolve an issue.
C. discuss different approaches to dealing with a problem.
D. suggest that local participation is necessary to solve the problem described.
E. to assert that national parks are adversely affected by activities outside their boundaries.

2. The passage provides support for which of the following assertions?
A. The National Park Organic Act gave the Secretary of the Interior the right to overrule state government policy in lands adjacent to national parks.
B. The federal government has been selling national park land to state governments in order to raise money for wildlife conservation.
C. The actions of state governments have often failed to promote the interests of national park wildlife.
D. Local politicians want the federal government to turn control of national parks over to state governments.
E. Timber harvesting and energy exploration have not had any impact on national parks.

3. In the context of the passage, the phrase external degradation (lines 6-7) refers to which of the following:
A. threats to national parks arising from the House of Representative's willingness to address environmental issues.
B. threats to national parks arising from state government environmental policies.
C. threats to national parks arising from local politicians' calls for greater state involvement in national park planning.
D. threats to national parks arising from the National Park Organic Act.
E. threats to national parks arising from the lack of local support.

4. According to the passage, which of the following developments is most likely if environmental cooperation between the federal government and state governments does not improve?
A. A further decline in the land area of national parks.
B. A further increase in federal ownership of land adjacent to national parks.
C. A further growth in the powers of the National Park Service.
D. A further loss of species in national parks.
E. A further increase in timber harvesting activities.


411

Hi Guys, could you please enlighten me with some tips to crack RC , some basic approaches..
thanks in advance

412

In the annals of investing, Warren Buffett stands alone. Starting from scratch, simply by picking stocks and companies for investment, Buffett amassed one of the epochal fortunes of the twentieth century. Over a period of four decades more than enough to iron out the effects of fortuitous rolls of the dice, Buffett outperformed the stock market, by a stunning margin and without taking undue risks or suffering a single losing year. Buffett did this in markets bullish and bearish and through economies fat and lean, from the Eisenhower years to Bill Clinton, from the l950s to the l990s, from saddle shoes and Vietnam to junk bonds and the information age. Over the broad sweep of postwar America, as the major stock averages advanced by 11 percent or so a year, Buffett racked up a compounded annual gain of 29.2 percent. The uniqueness of this achievement is more significant in that it was the fruit of old-fashioned, long-term investing. Wall Street's modern financiers got rich by exploiting their control of the public's money: their essential trick was to take in and sell out the public at opportune moments. Buffett shunned this game, as well as the more venal excesses for which Wall Street is deservedly famous. In effect, he rediscovered the art of pure capitalism, a cold-blooded sport, but a fair one. Buffett began his career, working out his study in Omaha in 1956. His grasp of simple verities gave rise to a drama that would recur throughout his life. Long before those pilgrimages to Omaha, long before Buffett had a record, he would stand in a comer at college parties, baby-faced and bright-eyed, holding forth on the universe as a dozen or two of his older, drunken fraternity brothers crowded around. A few years later, when these friends had metamorphosed into young associates starting out on Wall Street, the ritual was the same. Buffett, the youngest of the group, would plop himself in a big, broad club chair and expound on finance while the others sat at his feet. On Wall Street, his homespun manner made him a cult figure. Where finance was so forbiddingly complex, Buffett could explain it like a general-store clerk discussing the weather. He never forgot that underneath each stock and bond, no matter how arcane, there lay a tangible, ordinary business. Beneath the jargon of Wall Street, he seemed to unearth a street from small-town America. In such a complex age, what was stunning about Buffett was his applicability. Most of what Buffett did was imitable by the average person (this is why the multitudes flocked to Omaha). It is curious irony that as more Americans acquired an interest in investing, Wall Street became more complex and more forbidding than ever. Buffett was born in the midst of depression. The depression cast a long shadow on Americans, but the post war prosperity eclipsed it. Unlike the modern portfolio manager, whose mindset is that of a trader, Buffett risked his capital on the long term growth of a few select businesses. In this, he resembled the magnates of a previous age, such as J P Morgan Sr. As Jack Newfield wrote of Robert Kennedy, Buffett was not a hero, only a hope; not a myth, only a man. Despite his broad wit, he was strangely stunted. When he went to Paris, his only reaction was that he had no interest in sight-seeing and that the food was better in Omaha. His talent sprang from his unrivaled independence of mind and ability to focus on his work and shut out the world, yet those same qualities exacted a toll. Once, when Buffett was visiting the publisher Katharine Graham on Martha's Vineyard, a friend remarked on the beauty of the sunset. Buffett replied that he hadn't focused on it, as though it were necessary for him to exert a deliberate act of concentration to "focus" on a sunset. Even at his California beachfront vacation home, Buffett would work every day for weeks and not go near the water. Like other prodigies, he paid a price. Having been raised in a home with more than its share of demons, he lived within an emotional fortress. The few people who shared his office had no knowledge of the inner man, even after decades. Even his children could scarcely recall a time when he broke through his surface calm and showed some feeling. Though part of him is a showman or preacher, he is essentially a private person. Peter Lynch, the mutual-fund wizard, visited Buffett in the 1980s and was struck by the tranquility in his inner sanctum. His archives, neatly alphabetized in metal filing cabinets, looked as files had in another era. He had no armies of traders, no rows of electronic screens, as Lynch did. Buffett had no price charts, no computer - only a newspaper clipping from 1929 and an antique ticker under a glass dome. The two of them paced the floor, recounting their storied histories, what they had bought, what they had sold. Where Lynch had kicked out his losers every few weeks, Buffett had owned mostly the same few stocks for years and years. Lynch felt a pang, as though he had traveled back in time. Buffett's one concession to modernity is a private jet. Otherwise, he derives little pleasure from spending his fabulous wealth. He has no art collection or snazzy car, and he has never lost his taste for hamburgers. He lives in a commonplace house on a tree-lined block, on the same street where he works. His consuming passion - and pleasure - is his work, or, as he calls it, his canvas. It is there that he revealed the secrets of his trade, and left a self-portrait.


1. “Saddle shoes and Vietnam”, as expressed in the passage, refers to: I. Denier cri and Vietnam war II. Growth of leather footwear industry and Vietnam shoe controversy III. Modern U.S. population and traditional expatriates IV. Industrial revolution and Vietnam Olympics V. Fashion and Politics.

A. I and V

B. II and IV

C. III and V

D. II and III


2. Identify the correct sequence: I. Depression -> Eisenhower -> Microsoft II. California -> New York -> Omaha III. J.P.Morgan -> Buffett -> Bill Gates IV. Mutual funds -> Hedge funds -> Brokers

A. I and II

B. I and III

C.II and IV

D.III and IV


3. Choose the most appropriate answer: according to the author, Warren Buffett was I. Simple and outmoded II. Against planned economy and technology III. Deadpan IV. Spiritually raw

A. I and IV

B. II and IV

C.III and IV

D.I and III

413
RC-2

Roger Rosenblatt's book Black Fiction, manages to alter the approach taken in many previous studies by making an attempt to apply literary rather than sociopolitical criteria to its subject. Rosenblatt points out that criticism of Black writing has very often served as a pretext for an expounding on Black history. The recent work of Addison Gayle's passes a judgement on the value of Black fiction by clearly political standards, rating each work according to the ideas of Black identity, which it propounds.

Though fiction results from political circumstances, its author react not in ideological ways to those circumstances, and talking about novels and stories primarily as instruments of ideology circumvents much of the fictional enterprise. Affinities and connections are revealed in the works of Black fiction in Rosenblatt's literary analysis; these affinities and connections have been overlooked and ignored by solely political studies.

The writing of acceptable criticism of Black fiction, however, presumes giving satisfactory answers to a quite a few questions. The most important of all, is there a sufficient reason, apart from the racial identity of the authors, for the grouping together of Black authors? Secondly, what is the distinction of Black fiction from other modern fiction with which it is largely contemporaneous? In the work Rosenblatt demonstrates that Black fiction is a distinct body of writing, which has an identifiable, coherent literary tradition. He highlights recurring concerns and designs, which are independent of chronology in Black fiction written over the past eighty years. These concerns and designs are thematic, and they come form the central fact of the predominant white culture, where the Black characters in the novel are situated irrespective of whether they attempt to conform to that culture or they rebel against it.

Rosenblatt's work does leave certain aesthetic questions open. His thematic analysis allows considerable objectivity; he even clearly states that he does not intend to judge the merit of the various works yet his reluctance seems misplaced, especially since an attempt to appraise might have led to interesting results. For example, certain novels have an appearance of structural diffusion. Is this a defeat, or are the authors working out of, or attempting to forge, a different kind of aesthetic? Apart from this, the style of certain Black novels, like Jean Toomer's Cane, verges on expressionism or surrealism; does this technique provide a counterpoint to the prevalent theme that portrays the fate against which Black heroes are pitted, a theme usually conveyed by more naturalistic modes of expressions?

Irrespective of such omissions, what Rosenblatt talks about in his work makes for an astute and worthwhile study. His book very effectively surveys a variety of novels, highlighting certain fascinating and little-known works like James Weldon Johnson's Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man. Black Fiction is tightly constructed, and levelheaded and penetrating criticism is exemplified in its forthright and lucid style.

1) The author of the passage raises and objection to criticism of Black fiction like that by Addison Gayle as it:
A. Highlights only the purely literary aspects of such works.
B. Misconceive the ideological content of such fiction.
C. Miscalculate the notions of Black identity presented in such fiction.
D. Replaces political for literary criteria in evaluating such fiction.
E. Disregards the reciprocation between Black history and Black identity exhibited in such fiction.


2) The primary concern of the author in the above passage is:
A. Reviewing the validity of a work of criticism.
B. Comparing various critical approaches to a subject.
C. Talking of the limitations of a particular kind of criticism.
D. Recapitulation of the major points in a work of criticism.
E. Illustrating the theoretical background of a certain kind of criticism.


3) The author is of the opinion that Black Fiction would have been improved had Rosenblatt:
A. Undertaken a more careful evaluation of the ideological and historical aspects of Black Fiction.
B. Been more objective in his approach to novels and stories by Black authors.
C. Attempted a more detailed exploration of the recurring themes in Black fiction throughout its history.
D. Established a basis for placing Black fiction within its own unique literary tradition.
E. Calculated the relative literary merit of the novels he analyzed thematically.


4)Rosenblatt's discussion of Black Fiction is :
A. Pedantic and contentious.
B. Critical but admiring.
C. Ironic and deprecating.
D. Argumentative but unfocused.
E. Stilted and insincere.


5) According to the given passage the author would be LEAST likely to approve of which among the following?
A. Analyzing the influence of political events on the personal ideology of Black writers.
B. Attempting a critical study, which applies sociopolitical criteria to the autobiographies of Black authors.
C. A literary study of Black poetry that appraises the merits of poems according to the political acceptability of their themes.
D. Studying the growth of a distinct Black literary tradition within the context of Black history.
E. Undertaking a literary study, which attempts to isolate aesthetic qualities unique to Black fiction.


6) From the following options, which does the author not make use of while discussing Black Fiction?
A. Rhetorical questions.
B. Specific examples.
C. Comparison and contrast.
D. Definition of terms.
E. Personal opinion.


7) The author makes a reference to James Weldon Johnson's Autobiography of an Ex-colored Man most probably to:
A. Highlight the affinities between Rosenblatt's method of thematic analysis and earlier criticism.
B. Elucidate regarding the point made regarding expressionistic style earlier in the passage.
C. Qualify the assessment of Rosenblatt's book made in the first paragraph of the passage.
D. Demonstrate the affinities among the various Black novels talked of by Rosenblatt's literary analysis.
E. Present a specific example of one of the accomplishments of Rosenblatt's work.


P.S: Only OA available no explanation so we are open for discussion after OA is posted. 👍
414

Guys i will not be able to post RC's for few days as my computer has gone down :banghead: 😠😠😠😠😠😠



will start posting RC's soon 🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻


415
RC-3

The existence of mammals on the earth can be traced back to at least the Triassic time. The rate of development was retarded, till evolutional change suddenly accelerated in the oldest Paleocene. This resulted in an increase in average size, larger mental capacity, and special adaptations for different modes of life, during the Eocene time. Further improvement was seen during the Oligocene Epoch, with the appearance of some new lines and extinction of others. The Miocene and Pliocene times are especially significant as they mark the culmination of various groups and a continued approach toward modern characters. It is in the Miocene time that the mammals reached their peak with reference to variety and size.

The ability of the mammals to adapt to various modes of life finds a parallel in the reptiles of the Mesozoic time, and apart form their greater intelligence, the mammals apparently have not done much better than the corresponding reptilian forms. Undoubtedly the bat is a better flying animal than the pterosaur, but at the same time the dolphin and whale are hardly more fish like than the ichthyosaur. Quite a few of the swift-running mammals inhabiting the plains, like the horse and the antelope, must excel any of the dinosaurs. Although the tyrannosaur was a more weighty and robust carnivore than perhaps any carnivorous mammal, the lion and the tiger, by virtue of their superior brain are far more efficient and dangerous beasts of prey. It is significant to note that various species of mammals gradually adapted themselves to various kinds of lifestyles, some took to grazing on the plains and were able to run swiftly (horse, deer, bison), others started living in rivers and swamps (hippopotamus, beaver), inhabiting trees (sloth, monkey), burrowing underground (rodent, mole), feeding on flesh (tiger, wolf), swimming in the water (dolphin, whale, seal), and flying in the air (bat). Human beings on account of their superior brain have been able to harness mechanical methods to conquer the physical world and adapt to any set of conditions.

Such adaptation to different conditions leads to a gradual change in form and structure. This is a biological characteristic of the youthful, plastic stage of a group. It is seen that early in its evolutional cycle animals possess the capacity for change, but as the animal progresses in its cycle becoming old and fixed, this capacity for change disappears. The generalized types of organisms retain longest the ability to make adjustments when required, and it is from them that new, fecund stocks take origin-certainly not from any specialized end products. With reference to mammals, we see their birth, plastic spread in many directions, increased specialization, and in some cases, extinction; this is a characteristic of the evolution of life, which can be seen in the geologic record of life.


1) From the following, choose the most appropriate title for the above passage?
A. From Dinosaur to Man.
B. Adaptation and Extinction.
C. The Superior Mammals.
D. The Geologic Life Span.
E. Man, the Vanquisher of the Physical World.

2) According to the passage the chronological order of the geologic periods is:
A. Paleocene, Miocene, Triassic, Mesozoic.
B. Paleocene, Triassic, Mesozoic, Miocene.
C. Miocene, Paleocene, Triassic, Mesozoic.
D. Mesozoic, Oligocene, Paleocene, Miocene.
E. Mesozoic, Paleocene, Eocene, Miocene.

3) From the above passage, we can infer that, the pterosaur
A. resembled the bat.
B. was a Mesozoic mammal.
C. was a flying reptile.
D. inhabited the seas.
E. evolved during the Miocene period.

4) As inferred from the passage, the largest number of mammals were found in which of the following periods?
A. Triassic period.
B. Eocene period.
C. Oligocene epoch.
D. Pliocene period.
E. Miocene period.

5) Among the following statements, which statement, if true, would weaken the argument put forth in the first sentence of Paragraph 1?
A. It has been found that the tryannosaur had a larger brain, than was previously known.
B. Within the next thousand years, mammals will become extinct.
C. Recently certain forms of flying ichthyosaurs have been discovered.
D. It has now been proved, that the tiger is more powerful than the carnivorous reptiles.
E. It is now possible to double human mental capacity, by the use of certain recently developed computers.


6) It is clear from the passage, that the evidence used to discuss the life of past time periods:
A. was developed by Charles Darwin.
B. was unearthed by the author.
C. has been negated by more recent evidence.
D. was never truly established.
E. is based on fossilized remains.


7) As inferred from the passage, which of the following proverbial expressions is the author most likely to agree with?
A. It's a cruel world.
B. All the world's a stage.
C. The more things change, the more they remain the same.
D. Footprints in the sands of time.
E. A short life, but a merry one.

Only OA available no explanation, so we are open for discussion after OA is posted.



416

RC-30-04-2013


Perceiving, for all its nicety of functioning in the dark room under strict instructions for accuracy, comprises a highly complex series of little understood psychological processes. For under all conditions, perceiving represents a resultant of two complex sets of specifications. One set describes the conditions of stimulation. This is done either in terms of physical measures such as wave length, or in terms of psychological norms such as in the description of a picture as that picture is seen by “normal” observers under optimal conditions and with a set for accuracy. This first set of specifications we are used to calling “stimulus” factors.


Stimuli, however, do not act upon an indifferent organism. There is never, in the old-fashioned language of G. F. Stout, anoetic sentience. The organism in perception is in one way or another in a state of expectancy about the environment. It is a truism worth repeating that the perceptual effect of a stimulus is necessarily dependent upon the set or expectancy of the organism.


There have been very few systematic efforts to analyze the dimensions of set and to formulate laws regarding the effectiveness of set in perception such as those which describe stimulus-perception relationships. That students of nonsensory or “directive” factors in perception have thus far refrained from any large-scale statement of principles, while it is a mark of admirable modesty in the face of a very confusing array of experimental data, is highly regrettable. For it has prevented the emergence of new hypotheses which, flowing even from premature principles, might serve to test the utility of theories of perception.


The present study, though empirical in nature, is essentially an essay in the theory of perception — or at least that part of the theory of perception which deals with directive factors in the perceiving process. Our basic axiom has already been stated — that perceiving is a process which results from the stimulation of a prepared or eingestellt organism. A second axiom concerns the operation of such directive factors: given a stimulus input of certain characteristics, directive processes in the organism operate to organize the perceptual field in such a way as to maximize percepts relevant to current needs and expectations and to minimize percepts inimical to such needs and expectations. This “minimax” axiom we have referred to elsewhere as the construction-defense balance in perceiving.


All of which is not to say that perception is always wishful or “autistic.” Indeed, that is not the point. “Wishfulness” has to do with the nature of the expectations which are at work and is not a term relevant to the perceiving process as such. By “wishful” we mean an expectation with a low probability of being confirmed by events.


The construction-defense process operates where expectations are “realistic” or where they are “wishful.” In the former case, it is simply a matter of “constructing” a percept which is relevant, say, to the exigencies of locomotion, “defending” against percepts which, though potentially wish-fulfilling, are disruptive to the task of locomotion.


A concern of this paper is also with the perceptual events which occur when perceptual expectancies fail of confirmation — the problem of incongruity.



Q.1 The closest meaning of the word “autistic” in the context of the passage is

a)Rational

b)Selfish

c)Limited

d)Irrelevant

e)Focussed



Q.2 The primary purpose of the author is to show that

a )Ultimately the mechanism of perception involves a complex set of processes which are not fully understood.

b)The most important factor in the mechanism of perception is essentially the stimulus as it influences the constructive -defense mechanism.

c)It is important to understand the directive factors in the perceiving process as they influence the process of perception.

d)Incongruity has been given very less attention in experiments and needs to be thoroughly researched.

e)There are many factors in perception which we take for granted and hence our axioms are suspect.



Q.3 Which of the following statements cannot be inferred from the passage?

A. The theories of perception are confusing and this can be largely attributed to the complacency among the students of perception.

B. Theories of perception need a serious review as the old theories were based on the assumption of an indifferent organism.

C. Incongruities would not be perceived if an organism decided to give up in face of non-confirmation of expectations.

a)Only A

b)A and B

c)B and C

d)A and C

e)A, B and C

417

RC-2-30/04/2013


Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim. But a certain difference is found among ends; some are activities, others are products apart from the activities that produce them. Where there are ends apart from the actions, it is the nature of the products to be better than the activities. Now, as there are many actions, arts, and sciences, their ends also are many; the end of the medical art is health, that of shipbuilding a vessel, that of strategy victory, that of economics wealth. But where such arts fall under a single capacity- as bridle-making and the other arts concerned with the equipment of horses fall under the art of riding, and this and every military action under strategy, in the same way other arts fall under yet others- in all of these the ends of the master arts are to be preferred to all the subordinate ends; for it is for the sake of the former that the latter are pursued. It makes no difference whether the activities themselves are the ends of the actions, or something else apart from the activities, as in the case of the sciences just mentioned.


If, then, there is some end of the things we do, which we desire for its own sake (everything else being desired for the sake of this), and if we do not choose everything for the sake of something else (for at that rate the process would go on to infinity, so that our desire would be empty and vain), clearly this must be the good and the chief good. Will not the knowledge of it, then, have a great influence on life? If so, we must try, in outline at least, to determine what it is. It would seem to belong to the most authoritative art and that which is most truly the master art. And politics appears to be of this nature; for it is this that ordains which of the sciences should be studied in a state, and which each class of citizens should learn and up to what point they should learn them; and we see even the most highly esteemed of capacities to fall under this, e.g. strategy, econom-ics, rhetoric; now, since politics uses the rest of the sciences, and since, again, it legislates as to what we are to do and what we are to abstain from, the end of this science must include those of the others, so that this end must be the good for man.


Now each man judges well the things he knows, and of these he is a good judge. And so the man who has been educated in a subject is a good judge of that subject, and the man who has received an all-round education is a good judge in general. Hence a young man is not a proper hearer of lectures on political science; for he is inexperienced in the actions that occur in life, but its discussions start from these and are about these; and, further, since he tends to follow his passions, his study will be vain and unprofitable, because the end aimed at is not knowledge but action. And it makes no difference whether he is young in years or youthful in character; the defect does not depend on time, but on his living, and pursuing each successive object, as passion directs.


Q.1 Which of the following assumptions cannot be inferred from the passage?

a)Every action and thought is directed and aimed at something good

b)Everything has a purpose or an end

c)Many times, some of the creative pursuits are subordinate to a master art

d)Every person is a good judge of a subject which is known to him

e)Every person assumes that his contribution towards one art will lead to the common good of the state


Q.2 Why does the author suggest that desiring something for the sake of that thing itself must be the chief good?

a)Because every mean has a desirable end.

b)Because our life has an ultimate goal.

c)Because politics is an authoritative art.

d)Because every activity should be directed towards another activity.

e)Because our purpose in life is to achieve precision in whatever we choose to do.


Q.3 According to the passage, the author gives a warning to those who:

a)aim to pursue happiness for the sake of happiness

b)aim to act by means of their virtue

c)aim to work in the field of politics

d)aim to pass judgements on subjects that are unknown to them

e)aim to exercise action rather than gain knowledge


Q.4 According to the passage, if politics is the most authoritative art then it cannot be inferred that: a)no other science dominates our actions more than politics

b)politics determines the semblance, structure and content of other sciences

c)art is equally dependent on other sciences and not just politics

d)politics is the master art

e)politics not only uses these sciences, it also legislates their limit


418

RC-4

For a period of more than two centuries paleontologists have been intrigued by the fossilized remains of pterosaurs, the first flying vertebartes. The issues, which puzzle them, are how these heavy creatures, having a wingspan of about 8-12 meters managed the various problems associated with powered flight and whether these creatures were reptiles or birds.

Perhaps the least controversial assertion about the pterosaurs is that they were reptiles. Their skulls, pelvises, and hind feet are reptilian. The anatomy of their wings suggests that they did not evolve into the class of birds. In pterosaurs a greatly elongated fourth finger of each forelimb supported a winglike membrane. The other fingers were short and reptilian, with sharp claws. In birds the second finger is the principal strut of the wing, which consists primarily of feathers. If the pterosaurs walked on all fours, the three short fingers may have been employed for grasping. When a pterosaurs walked or remained stationary, the fourth finger, and with it the wing, could only urn upward in an extended inverted V- shape along each side of the animal's body.


In resemblance they were extremely similar to both birds and bats, with regard to their overall body structure and proportion. This is hardly surprising as the design of any flying vertebrate is subject to aerodynamic constraints. Both the pterosaurs and the birds have hollow bones, a feature that represents a savings in weight. There is a difference, which is that the bones of the birds are more massively reinforced by internal struts.

Although scales typically cover reptiles, the pterosaurs probably had hairy coats. T.H. Huxley reasoned that flying vertebrates must have been warmblooded because flying implies a high rate of metabolism, which in turn implies a high internal temperature. Huxley speculated that a coat of hair would insulate against loss of body heat and might streamline the body to reduce drag in flight. The recent discovery of a pterosaur specimen covered in long, dense, and relatively thick hair like fossil material was the first clear evidence that his reasoning was correct.

Some paleontologists are of the opinion that the pterosaurs jumped from s dropped from trees or perhaps rose into the light winds from the crests of waves in order to become airborne. Each theory has its associated difficulties. The first makes a wrong assumption that the pterosaurs hind feet resembled a bat's and could serve as hooks by which the animal could hang in preparation for flight. The second hypothesis seems unlikely because large pterosaurs could not have landed in trees without damaging their wings. The third calls for high aces to channel updrafts. The pterosaurs would have been unable to control their flight once airborne as the wind from which such waves arose would have been too strong.


1) As seen in the above passage scientists generally agree that:
A. the pterosaurs could fly over large distances because of their large wingspan.
B. a close evolutionary relationship can be seen between the pterosaurs and bats, when the structure of their skeletons is studied.
C. the study of the fossilized remains of the pterosaurs reveals how they solved the problem associated with powered flight.
D. the pterosaurs were reptiles.
E. Pterosaurs walked on all fours.

2) The view that, the pterosaurs rose into light winds from the crest of the waves to become airborne, is viewed by the author as:
A. revolutionary
B. unlikely
C. unassailable
D. probable
E. outdated.

3)As inferred from the passage, the skeleton of a pterosaur is distinguishable from that of a bird by the:
A. length of its wingspan
B. hollow spaces in its bones
C. anatomic origin of its wing strut
D. evidence of the hooklike projections on its hind feet
E. location of the shoulder joint joining the wing to its body.

4) From the viewpoint of T.H.Huxley, as given in the passage, which of the following statements is he most likely to agree with?
A. An animal can master complex behaviors irrespective of the size of it's brain.
B. Environmental capabilities and physical capabilities often influence the appearance of an animal. C. Usually animals in a particular family group do not change their appearance dramatically over a period of time
D. The origin of flight in vertebrates was an accidental development rather than the outcome of specialization or adaption
E. The pterosaurs should be classified as birds, not reptiles.

5) According to the passage which of the following is a characteristic of the pterosaurs?
A. The pterosaurs were not able to fold their wings when not in use
B. Like the bats, they hung upside down from branches
C. They flew in order to capture prey
D. They can be said to be an earlier stage in the evolution of the birds
E. They lived principally in a forest like habitat.

6) The organization of the last paragraph of the passage can best be described as:
A. New data is introduced in order to support a traditional point of view
B. Three explanations are put forth and each of them is disputed by means of specific information
C. An outline of three hypotheses are given and evidence supporting each of them is given
D. Description of three recent discoveries is presented, and their implications for future study are projected
E. The material in the earlier paragraphs is summarized and certain conclusions are from it.

7) According to the passage, some scientists believe that pterosaurs:
A. Lived near large bodies of water
B. Had sharp teeth for tearing food
C. Were attacked and eaten by larger reptiles
D. Had longer tails than many birds
E. Consumed twice their weight daily to maintain their body temperature.


419

Christianity suggests that the universe is a theatre of change and imperfection, and God is perfect and unchanging. Apologists, who reconcile Christianity with Greek Philosophy advocate that universe is somewhat different from pure matter. Thus God according to them also is eternal and unchanging he is the primordial cause of everything in the universe. Ideas of Plato and forms of Aristotle became god for them.St. Augustine, one of the greatest thinkers among the early Christian Philosophers worked most on the theory of apologists. According to him, God created matter out of nothing and then created everything in the universe. Indeed god created time and space also. This principle is in congruence with the Greek Philosophy, that the universe is the result of union of matter and form.Christian thinkers furthered the Greek philosophy and they attempted to account for the existence of matter. The Christians put the ideas or forms in God's mind and went on to say that God created matter out of nothing. After he had created matter, he had something upon which to impress ideas for forms.These Christian philosophers taught that the ideas for forms being in the mind of the god, were divine. Therefore, in so far as things are ideas or forms impressed on matter, they seek God and try to return to him. But matter holds them back. Matter which God has created is the principle, which makes it necessary for things to struggle in their attempt to become divine.



answer the questions??


Which of the following can be a valid conclusion as per passage?

a God is eternal, unchanging.

bGod created matter and philosophers.

cGod is creator of all forms and ideas.

dThe pattern of the world is himself.

eGod has created everything.



The relationship between the Greek Philosophy and the Apologists can be described as of

aAltruism

bCompatibility

cTolerance

dEstrangement

eConformism


puys plz quote me..?? the answers in bold are my answers..

420
RC-5

Five times as many workers may be needed to construct a power plant as to operate it. The numbers may be even more disproportionate for a major pipeline or dam. When the construction ends, a substantial reduction in population is virtually guaranteed. Hence, there may be no justification for providing an infrastructure necessary to maintain adequate levels of service during the construction period.

Money necessary to build water systems, schools and roads and to fund salaries and maintenance costs is mismatched by traditional taxing programs. The construction project is usually not subject to local property tax until it nears completion, which may be five years after the impact has occurred. Alternative sources of tax revenue cannot begin to cover the cost of providing the necessary services. Even if some governments have money, they may not be the right governments. Some entities may suffer the impact of development without being able to tax it. For example, a development may be located in the county just outside the limits of an incorporated city. The county will be entitled to tax the property while the city may receive most of the project population and demand for services.

The 1960s and 1970s witnessed a new boomtown era in the West. The typical contemporary boomtown is fuelled by a quest for energy in the form of a fossil-fuelled electric generating plant, a hydroelectric dam or a new mine. The energy project is typically located near a small community or is forced to start a community from scratch. Often, the boomtown is poorly planned and under-financed. Long-time residents find their community changed for the worse and newcomers find the town an undesirable place to live.

The boomtown is characterized by inadequate public services, undesirable labour conditions, confusion in community structure, and deterioration of the quality of life arising from rapid population growth due to a major economic stimulus. Accelerated growth is the most distinguishing characteristic of a boomtown.

Studies have shown that large-scale development in sparsely populated areas causes major social problems. Housing, street and water systems construction, school development and police and fire protection lag far behind population growth. Rent and property tax increases join with a rise in the general cost of living to harm persons on fixed incomes. Education in the community may suffer. One result of boomtown living is higher incidence of divorce, depression, alcoholism and attempted suicide. Until recently, planners have ignored or understated such problems. While the boomtown promotes an "us against them" mentality — the old timers versus persons brought to the community by the boom — the fact remains that all parties suffer. Newcomers may blame oldtimers for a lack of support just as old-timers may blame them for a deterioration of community life. Consequences of the boomtown also harm the project developer. The undesirable community results in poor worker productivity and frequent worker turnover, factors that delay construction and push projects over budget. Problems of rapid growth in some boomtowns are compounded by the fact that most of the population disappears with the completion of project construction.


1) It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following are possible ways in which a boomtown is affected by poor planning and under-financing?
I. Unsatisfactory labour conditions
II. Inadequate police protection
III. Poor community relations

A. II only
B. I and III only
C. II and III only
D. I, II, and III
E. I only 2.

2) The passage suggests that there is often a lack of services associated with boomtowns. The author claims that all of the following are possible causal factors for the lack of services associated with a boomtown EXCEPT:
A. the expected loss of a substantial number of residents after the completion of a project.
B. lack of support from long-time residents.
C. the location of an energy project just outside the limits of an incorporated city.
D. the time lag between the beginning of project construction and the onset of tax payments for it. E.the mismatch between funds needed and traditional taxing programs.

3) The tone of the author's discussion of traditional taxing programs in regard to boomtowns can best be described as:
A. outraged
B. concerned
C. disbelieving
D. complacent
E. mocking